Taken to Court over Termination of Lease

antoinolachtnai

Now you are getting into the swing of it. Be sure to keep a copy and file the complaint as quick as you can, and if you have to post it, use registered mail and keep the registration. Have all this stuff ready in Court.

Our man in Havana

The setting of a future date is always done when a notice of intention to defend is lodged. You may have to wait until the actual trial date to get the jurisdiction problems addressed.

kifi

When my case was called my solicitor stated section 182 of the Act re jurisdiction. The landlady's solicitor then countered with section 76 of the Act;

In the case of a tenancy that has been terminated a dispute as
to the amount of any rent that had been agreed to or paid by the
former tenant may not be referred by him or her to the Board for
resolution at any time after the period of 28 days from the termination
of the tenancy.

My solicitor then said that if the complaint hadn't been lodged witht the PRTB within 28 days then tough!! The judge then examined section 182 of the Act (she wasn't very familiar with this Act at all by the way )

182 (part of);
proceedings
may not be instituted in any court in respect of a dispute that may
be referred to the Board for resolution under that Part.

She highlighted the word "may" (or something like this, is was very difficult to hear her) and set a hearing date in the court for this matter.

I'm very disappointed with this decision to say the least.

Afuera

Thanks for keeping us posted on your case kifi. Sounds like a crazy ruling though that after 28 days from the termination of the tenancy, since the landlady can not now take a case with the PRTB, that they would be allowed to take the case directly to court. I hope that it's not that easy for landlords to circumnavigate the PRTB or it really could make it very hard for tenants to defend themselves. Best of luck with the upcoming court case.

Our man in Havana

A bizzare ruling to say the least. So now the PRTB is esstentially worthless if the landlord simply waits 28 days and goes to court. I would say that this decision would be easily reversed in the circuit court.

Best of luck with the full hearing. When was the date set for?

Supercell

kifi, thanks for keeping us up to date here.

Have to admit every time I read this thread I get a little mad, its just totally typical that the little person is being totally screwed in Ireland, the rich land owners totally have all the rights on their side.
Basically it seems with enough money on the landlords side the PRTB are toothless and spineless, and yet another sign of us getting the muppets in power we deserve.
People say how did America manage to vote Bush in twice in a row..well, we did the equivalent here three times in a row!!

I'm totally disgusted with the whole thing, all I can say is I wish you the best of luck.

A Random Walk

I'm very interested in the outcome of this. How are you paying for your solicitor Kifi?

robo

Kifi - just want to wish you the best of luck and please keep us informed of how it goes. Take care!

antoinolachtnai

I got the following feedback when I posted a link to this on the irishlaw list.

Antoin,

I'm replying to this post directly to you rather than through Boards.ie as I'm not registered there as a subscriber.

However as an accredited Adjudicator, Mediator and Tribunal Member with the PRTB, this case strikes me as demanding further and special attention. It seems to me that the District Court Judge in question completely lacks jurisdiction in the matter, no matter how he/she chooses to play with the word "may" in interpreting the legislation. Assuredly, the landlord is precluded from initiating an action in the District Court without first applying to PRTB for dispute resolution. Of course, for the landlord to do this, the property must be registered with the Board, which it may not be (which in itself, is an offence, amenable to substantial penalty) The tenant can or should have simply made an application to PRTB for dispute resolution at a cost of just €25.00 and once that is done, the landlord is not permitted to take further steps in any other forum - and in any event, as has been pointed out, the PRTB is the body set up by statute to deal with such matters.

This may be merely a matter of poor communication, as Threshold are highly aware of procedures, and the PRTB can only begin to deal with a dispute when an application is received.

I'm copying this email to the appropriate person in PRTB and I suggest that the original querist ("Kifi") should contact the Board for further advice. Legal representation at hearings under the aegis of the Board while always useful and often desirable, are by no means essential.

In making these suggestions I am of course merely pointing out to Querist the appropriate procedure to follow in certain circumstances, as I would to the landlord if the position were reversed, I am not offering an opinion or (I hope) displaying any bias, perceived or otherwise.

Perhaps if might be useful to repost this to the Boards.ie thread.


Regards,


LIAM M. NOLAN

How Strange

Kifi...PRTB; They found it very hard to believe that the this has gone straight to the courts and not through the arbitration procedures with them. They advised me to contact Threshold.

Threshold; Also have found it hard to believe why this ain't going through the PRTB. The lady said she will run it by their legal advisor and will come back to me tomorrow. On the negative she said that I have no way of proving that the we agreed with the landlord to find someone else and not be liable for the remaining rent. I never got this in writing unfortunately, lesson learned.

It seems to me that Treshold and the PRTB dropped the ball on this one as Kifi says in the quote above that he contacted both agencies. Hopefully now the situation will be sorted out ands someone will represent Kifi as it is bizarre and dangerous that a landlord with a bit of legal knowledge can bully a tenant into court.

Our man in Havana

Kifi, Can you ask your solicitor about trying to get the matter taken out of the district court? I am sure a higher court would affirm the opinion that the district courts have no jurisdiction. I feel that the district court should have referred the case to the high court on a point of law, i.e. does the District court have the jurisdiction to hear the case?

kifi

Section 76 of the Act;
In the case of a tenancy that has been terminated a dispute as
to the amount of any rent that had been agreed to or paid by the
former tenant may not be referred by him or her to the Board for
resolution at any time after the period of 28 days from the termination
of the tenancy.

On looking at this more carefully, I see this as the tenant being the only party restricted to submitting a claim within 28 days to the board. Does it seem like the landlord can still submit a claim to PRTB, regardless of the timeframe or am I interpreting this incorrectly?

Hmm, maybe the judge last Friday was a landlady herself (albeit an ill-informed one)!! It's interesting that, and maybe I have mentioned this is previous posts, the estate agent had informed me on several occasions that the landlady herself was a solicitor.

antoinolachtnai

Yes, that's what it looks like to me. But obviously this is something you'll have to take legal advice upon and it's the opinion of a court that matters, not my opinion or your opinion. And the question is whether you can appeal just this point without a hearing of the whole thing.

[edited out as it may cause issues]

gandalf

The OP has asked me to close this thread which I will do for the moment.