Landlord Marc Godart has been hit with fines of more than €25,000 arising from failing to register tenancies and knowingly giving false reasons to tenants for why they had to leave their apartments.
The latest list of sanctions and court orders published by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) includes seven entries for the Godart company, Green Label Property Investments Ltd, in relation to six apartments at Reuben House, Reuben Street, Dublin 8.
Last year The Irish Times reported how tenants had been evicted from the apartments on the basis that the owner wanted to sell, only for the apartments then to be advertised for short-term letting on Airbnb.
On Tuesday, another company owned by Mr Godart, Reuben Street Hot Desks Ltd, was fined €1,500 in the District Court for the short-term letting of the same apartments without the required planning permission over the year to April, despite having been instructed to desist. The company was also ordered to pay costs of €3,601 in the case, which was taken by Dublin City Council.
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The latest list of sanctions published by the RTB shows that Green Label Property Investments, a company that holds property on behalf of Mr Godart’s business, was hit with monetary sanctions ranging from €500 to €13,000. It is the first time the RTB has imposed sanctions on Mr Godart’s business, though tenants have brought successful complaints against him to the RTB and received monetary awards.
The latest sanctions and court orders published by the RTB include cases where landlords were sanctioned for failing to comply with the rent pressure zone laws that control rents in designated areas.
Landlord Anuj Katyal, of Amstelveen, the Netherlands, was given a monetary sanction of €15,000 for failing to comply with rent pressure zone requirements in respect of a property at Liffey Place, Liffey Valley Park, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Landlord William Byrne, of Blackrock, Dublin, was sanctioned €5,000 in respect of an apartment on Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1.
Landlords Thang Viet Dam and Ngoc Minh Nguyen, of Clonee, Dublin 15, were sanctioned a total of €22,434 in relation to two tenancies, at Premier Square, Finglas Road, Dublin 11, and Ongar Village, Dublin 15; and Michael and Claire O’Donoghue, of Clonpet, Co Tipperary, €4,608, in respect of an apartment at Cois Luachra, Dooradoyle, Co Limerick.
Eamon Dunphy, of Tramore, Co Waterford, was sanctioned €4,000 in respect of a tenancy at Bracken Grove, Old Tramore Road, Kilcohan, Waterford; Anna Sweeney, of Dublin 4, €2,000, in respect of a tenancy at Loreto Road, Maryland, Dublin 8; and George and Joanne Murphy, of Tullow, Co Carlow, €2,500, in respect of a tenancy at College Gardens, Carlow.
Landlord Pat Deasy, Dublin Pike, Co Cork, got a monetary sanction of €6,500 in respect of a tenancy at Ardross Estate, Pouladuff Road, Cork, while Cloncose Ltd, of Terenure, Dublin 6W, got a sanction of €7,000, in respect of a tenancy at Brookfield Green, Kimmage, Dublin 12.
Cloncose, a property investment company, reported a pretax profit of €445,649 in 2023, according to its most recent set of accounts. It is owned by David Jones, Templeogue Road, Dublin 6.
Landlord Orla Conlon, of West Yorkshire, England, was sanctioned €4,500 in respect of a tenancy at Kelly’s Bay Promenade, Skerries, Co Dublin; Kevin Curley, Skerries, Co Dublin, €2,116, in respect of Kelly’s Bay Heights, Skerries, and Bernadette Malone, of Foxrock, Dublin 18, €2,688, in respect of Griffin Glenpark, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Synergy Facility Services Ltd were given a €5,000 sanction for giving an incorrect reason for terminating a tenancy at an apartment in the Beacon South Quarter, Dublin 18, while landlord Stacey Tivnan, of Kilcolgan, Galway, was given a monetary sanction of €2,400 for failing to offer a tenancy back in Newtown, Grange, Co Sligo.
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