About 1,500 landlords lodged overholding cases with RTB in 2025

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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www.irishtimes.com

Man describes experience as landlord as ‘traumatic’ after overholding tenant

Eoghan O’Malley has been attempting to gain possession of his property since 2024 when tenant stopped paying rent
www.irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com

He was one of 1,003 landlords to lodge disputes with the RTB in the first nine months of 2024 alleging overholding. This rose to 1,246 during the same period last year.

During RTB tribunal hearings, tenants frequently cite the housing crisis as their reason for overholding, pointing to a lack of alternative affordable rentals in their area.

The landlord in the article appears to have bought a house as an investment although he did not own his own home. He now wants to buy a home for his family but can't because he already has a mortgage. The tenant has been overholding since December 2024 and owes €20k in rent arrears.
 
It would take them a while to compile them so they produced figures up to the end of Q3 and used 2024 for comparison.

But they should have given the total figure for 2024 as well.
 
1500 is a massive number. I think any landlords chances of getting one of them is quite high with that amount of cases. I know of two people waiting multiple years to get their properties back, and still no sign of it happening in the near future.
 
With all the restrictions we are under, it should at least be possible to get tenants out relatively quickly for sale or arrears.

The RTB process is, very likely deliberately, very very slow
 
There should be no need for a court process.
Once the RTB has said that the notice of termination is valid, the landlord should be able to get the tenant out using reasonable force or at least, be able to call the Gardai to say that there is a trespasser in their property.

If I find someone in my property who has no right to be here, I presumably can use reasonable force to remove them?
 
DannyBoyD said:
Wouldn't attempt this - every chance you'd be charged with assault.
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Just to be clear, I am not talking about a residential tenant here.

I am talking about my home or my office. If I come home and there is someone in my home who should not be there, I don't need to go to the courts to get them out.

I am proposing that the same should apply if one gets the OK from the RTB.

The Bailiff is absolutely fine in theory. In practice, how long does it take?
 
If a landlord has an overholding tenant who has been ruled against by the RTB, what measures can a landlord legally take to make life very difficult for the tenant. For example, does the landlord now have the right to enter the property without consulting the tenant? Could the landlord remove the furniture? Could the landlord request the utility companies no longer provide service to the property he owns which technically is now being squatted in? I am of course aware these things can escalate quickly, but I'm curious what is legally possible.
 
My understanding is that the RTB order is just the first stage.

They then must go to the Circuit (?) Court to get an eviction order.

They then must give that to the Sheriff and wait for them to enforce it.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Circuit (?) Court
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District Court

But otherwise yes, the determination order is just a step in the process. The landlord must continue treating the tenant the exact same as a paying tenant up until the arrival of the Sheriff. The Sheriff is the only person with the right to remove the delinquent tenant and their belongings.

Also worth noting, despite there being a determination order in place, the landlord is obliged to continue to pay to register the tenant annually with the RTB (even though tenant not paying). And People not paying rent are counted the same as someone paying rent in all their stats.
 
stormy said:
The landlord must continue treating the tenant the exact same as a paying tenant up until the arrival of the Sheriff. The Sheriff is the only person with the right to remove the delinquent tenant and their belongings.
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That largely answers my question above.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
There should be no need for a court process.
Once the RTB has said that the notice of termination is valid, the landlord should be able to get the tenant out using reasonable force or at least, be able to call the Gardai to say that there is a trespasser in their property.

If I find someone in my property who has no right to be here, I presumably can use reasonable force to remove them?
Click to expand...
I think it would be better if there was no RTB process and you could go straight to a court process. The courts are going to apply the law correctly and not be influenced by popular opinion or government. As well as that they are going to know the difference between a word spelled with a letter in the wrong order and still be able to interpret the honest intention of the letter.
 
I raised this issue with someone involved in the setting up of the PTRB and he said that the idea was to remove them from the courts and deal with them quickly.

I would say that has worked well for tenants taking cases against landlords.

I suspect it has not worked well for landlords. But it would be interesting to see the data.
 
Similar organisations to RTB exist elsewhere & work reasonably well.

The biggest issue is that the RTB determinations are valueless in bring matters to a conclusion.
 
stormy said:
The landlord must continue treating the tenant the exact same as a paying tenant up until the arrival of the Sheriff.
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How does that work?

Does overholding mean the tenancy continues? I thought once the NoT is copied to the RTB, then from the last date on the notice the tenancy has ended. I can see how a LL could have the same obligations until an RTB dispute is settled.

Once a dispute is finalised and a tenancy is validly ended, how can a LL still have RTA obligations to individuals in their property?

Are the occupiers squatters or trespassers at that stage? Does the owner have obligations under some other law?
 
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