LEGAL STRATEGY:FINAL-DEMAND letters are to issue within the next two weeks to some 50,000 landlords and other second-home owners who have failed to pay the household charge.
The letters will detail the legal proceedings ensuing if immediate payment is not made. In the event of continued non-payment, it is open to local authorities to pursue the matter through the courts.
Warning letters were first sent last July by city and county councils to almost 104,000 non-payers. Those who failed to pay up as a result of that warning were sent a second letter last month.
The 50,000 who will receive final-demand letters in the coming days are from this original cohort.
Almost all those who received letters have been second-home owners already liable for the non-principal private residence or second-home tax. These were identified using the NPPR database and the register of private rented accommodation held by the Private Residential Tenancies Board.
No warning letters have so far been sent to those who failed to meet the March 31st deadline to pay the €100 charge but own only their own home.
A spokeswoman for the Local Government Management Agency, which issues the letters, said the data set needed to issue these letters was still being finalised.
Single-home owners were to be identified using sources such as the Revenue Commissioners, ESB Networks and the Department of Social Protection.
The first letters would be issued to these non-payers by the end of this month, the spokeswoman said.
Households which have yet to pay the charge now owe €116 including penalties and interest.
Those who fail to pay after the receipt of warning letters are liable for fines of up to €2,500, in addition to the charge owed.
