LANDLORD AND TENANT

LANDLORD & TENANT

Students' Eviction Disallowed Despite Damage Done by Friend

Two students (the complainants) who lived on UCC’s campus received notices to vacate following complaints that they were responsible for damage to the door of an adjacent apartment. Their tenancy agreement said:

‘Anti-social behavior will not be tolerated and any student resident acting in this manner will be fined and may face eviction.’

On October 27th last, an incident was reported to the security guard at 10:30 pm. The guard had received a complaint from two girls in an adjacent apartment that a party was taking place in the complainants’ apartment and damage had been done to their apartment’s door. The girls said that they did not feel safe as their door was broken. Alternate accommodation was provided for them.

The following night, another complaint was made about another party in the same apartment occupied by the two student complainants.

On October 29th, the assistant services manager arranged a meeting with the two student complainants. The students volunteered that a friend of theirs admitted that he had caused the damage while drunk and was willing to pay the €1,112 cost of repairs. However, at the end of the meeting, the students were given a termination notice. The reason given for the termination was that they breached the tenancy license regarding anti-social conduct. The students’ fobs were deactivated but reactivated once the dispute was lodged with the RTB.

Complainant, Mr. Walsh, said that they were not aware that the adjacent door had been damaged until they learned it from a friend. He thought they would get a warning and be responsible for the cost of the damage, they were not expecting to be evicted. Their solicitor submitted that there had been ‘no due process followed.’  

The Tribunal found that the complainants/ tenants did not permit the behavior of the visitor that caused the damage. It ruled that if the visitor had been persistently harassing the neighbors, it could have followed that the tenants ‘allowed’ the anti-social behavior. But on the evidence presented, the tenants could not reasonably have anticipated the once off damage caused by a visitor.

It ruled that a warning notice would have been sufficient and that the notices of termination were invalid.

Boyle and Walsh v University College Cork Residential Tenancies Board May 2025.