Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2020-07-31
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

I move amendment No. 26:
In page 8, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following:
"(2A) Where the board on receipt of a termination from a landlord have concerns that the notice may be prima facia invalid, they will notify both the tenant and the landlord of those concerns.
This relates to a concern that was very clearly put by Threshold and I commend Threshold on its very consistent work on housing policy. It has highlighted its concern that the process put in place with regard to the notice of terminations, particularly the new measure whereby a notice of termination may relate to non-payment of rent in a new way, could in itself compromise the actual role of the RTB, which is to be an adjudicator. The RTB will notify the tenants of their rights under section 76, for example, but even the very fact of receiving a formal notification of their rights under section 76 from the RTB could be seen as it giving an imprimatur of legitimacy to a request that had come from the landlord.
Amendments Nos. 26 and 27 refer to the idea that when the RTB receives a notification of termination from a landlord, which it has to receive on the same day as the tenant, and it is prima facie completely illegitimate as, for example, it cites grounds that are not legitimate grounds in the table we mentioned or in the legislation or that the claim made is outrageous, rather than simply passing on that the tenant has section 76 rights and referring to them, the RTB would, in fact, be able to take action on the notification it received and make meaningful the very positive step put into the legislation, whereby the RTB is informed of a notification at the same time as the tenant. It would give substance to this. Having received a notification that seems to be prima facie invalid to it, it would be able to address these concerns at the same time as telling the tenant about the process. It would be able to tell the tenant and the landlord that there are questions that might need to be addressed. It would be very useful and practical. From the experience of a tenant, it would mean this is not about an imbalance but about a process that works, and that the tenant is not simply getting a letter from the landlord followed by a letter stating his or her formal rights.
Part 3 is not about Covid any more. These are new measures being put into our rental legislation. One of the new measures being expanded and changed is the extent to which non-payment of rent can be used as a basis for termination of accommodation. The rental pressure zones were mentioned. It would be good if the RTB would undergo an actual process to confirm the amount of rent that persons are being asked for is in line with good practice under the rental pressure zones. We know there have been incidents. I know of some cases but Threshold knows of many as it is a first call for renters. The number one issue that Threshold raised is the assumption in the Bill that the claim for rent due from the landlord is effectively assumed to be valid unless challenged by the tenant through a tribunal process. It is the balance between where we place our trust and where we assume good faith. If the RTB had an actual scrutiny role when it gets notifications, there are several ways it could be addressed. I hope the Minister of State will give me a sense of how he would see it working out and how we can avoid unfortunate situations.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2020-07-31/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-07-31