A Cork City landlord has been ordered to pay €3,200 in damages after a representative allegedly told a migrant couple “tenants have no rights in this country”.
A Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal heard that Jovy Gomez and Rudolf Basson received keys to the house on Commons Road on April 10th, 2024.
While the couple claimed a contract had been signed, one that allegedly understated the rent to be eligible for Housing Assistance Payments, Donald O’Sullivan, a secretary of landlord company Boss Slimmz Limited, maintained no such lease existed.
On April 16th, gardaí had been called to the property following an incident, the details of which were disputed by both sides.
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Mr Basson claimed Mr O’Sullivan and two others, including Mr Gomez’s aunt, arrived at the property and “threatened them”, in an attempt to evict them.
During the interaction, he claimed Mr O’Sullivan said they could evict them “at any time and that there were no protections for tenants in Ireland”.
Mr Basson, who also alleged Mr O’Sullivan called to Mr Gomez’s place of work “threatening his status in Ireland”, further claimed he had been assaulted by Mr O’Sullivan before he called gardaí.
However, Jenebel Gomez, Mr Gomez’s aunt, claimed Mr Basson was “uncontrollable and screaming” and it was he who was “aggressive and threatening”.
A notice of termination was subsequently served on the couple on April 25th, 15 days after the tenancy began.
Although Mr O’Sullivan denied saying he could “do what he wanted or that tenants had no protection,” the tribunal accepted Mr Basson was made to feel unsafe and insecure in his home.
“The fact that he saw fit to call the gardaí, specifically that it was him that did so, is evidence that tends to support his version of events in respect of what occurred that day. The bare denials of Mr O’Sullivan are no answer for this and he has offered no explanation as to why Mr Basson felt unsafe enough to call the gardaí,” the tribunal said.
It further accepted a statement was made that “tenants had no rights in this country,” and the “calculated intention” was to interfere with the tenants’ peaceful enjoyment of the home “to a very significant extent”.
It noted the statement was made amid a “considerable power imbalance” between Mr O’Sullivan and the couple, “one of which he was no doubt aware, and one leading to considerable consequential upset, distress and inconvenience”.
The tribunal described Mr Basson’s being upset and confrontational on April 16th as an “understandable reaction”.
“A person confronted with their landlord telling them that they have no rights cannot be expected to sit meekly by, or at least they cannot be castigated if they act otherwise,” the tribunal said.
It ordered Boss Slimmz Limited to pay “substantial damages” of €3,200 for breaching its obligation to allow for peaceful and exclusive possession of the property, adding the couple “suffered considerable distress and inconvenience”.
However, the damages were offset against €11,268.20 in rent arrears accrued by the couple, who had not paid rent from April 2024 until the hearing in December, according to the tribunal report published on Friday.
Mr Basson admitted he owed rent from April onwards; however, he claimed it was unpaid because the landlord “had not accepted it”, further claiming the landlord refused to provide banking details.
Deeming the notice of termination issued in April as valid as there was no fixed-term agreement in place, the tribunal ordered the couple to vacate the property within 21 days and to pay €8,068.20 in rent arrears.
