Tenants who rented out an apartment without its owner knowing have been refused the return of any deposit as there was “nothing legally capable of being returned”, a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal has found.
A tribunal in June heard that the three tenants – Wesley Nicastro, Weslley Frazao and Tairis Silva – had entered into an agreement with a man who claimed to be the landlord and co-owner of the apartment on Church Street East in Dublin 3.
The man was referred to as “Mr X” in a report published by the RTB on Tuesday.
The owner of the property, Natawan Saijaiboon, who lives in Belfast, outlined how Mr X, who she believed is now in prison for drug-dealing, was a “friend of a friend” and had been staying at the property until he was to move abroad.
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She said he acted as a caretaker and contributed to bills, but did not pay a specified amount of rent.
Despite the tenants having lived in the property since October 2022, the owner said she was unaware they were living there until September 2023, when she decided to sell it.
A lease agreement signed by the tenants and Mr X had a signature from the property owner, but she said this was forged.
One of the tenants, Mr Nicastro, told the tribunal they were informed by Mr X that he co-owned the apartment alongside the owner, with whom he claimed to be in a relationship.
The tenants said that, rather than paying him a cash deposit, Mr X told them to use the money to renovate the apartment, which had allegedly been “destroyed” by a previous tenant.
The tenant said the group had not viewed the apartment in person before moving in, and that the rooms had been “turned into darkrooms”, while there was also “soundproof material” on the walls.
The tenants said they spent €2,208 on renovating the apartment, and transferred the remaining €392 to Mr X. Thereafter, they paid €2,600 to him monthly for 12 months, after which the rent was raised to €2,652.
They paid the rent until they realised Mr X was not the owner of the property, and then began to pay the owner, adding that Mr X continued to seek rent from them afterwards.
However, the tenant said the situation eventually became “intolerable”, as the owner was “demanding inspections”. He alleged the owner arrived to paint the apartment without notice at 10.30pm on a Sunday while they were exchanging Christmas gifts.
The tenant alleged the owner was “shouting and screaming” that it was her property and threatening to break down the door before the tenants called gardaí.
The owner later explained that she was unaware that the tenants were living there, and arrived to find that her key was not working.
The day after, a tenant returned from work to find the apartment door had been broken open, with the owner explaining that she wanted to replace it, leaving the tenants with an unlockable door for a week, the tribunal heard.
The tenants had begun to look for alternative accommodation almost immediately, and departed the apartment about a week later.
The tribunal declined the tenants’ application for return of a deposit, saying no deposit had been paid to either Mr X or the owner of the property, as it had allegedly been used to renovate the property.
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It accepted that the owner was unaware of the arrangements made by Mr X and that the signature on the lease was not hers.
Despite the balance being transferred to Mr X, no security deposit was paid to the owner, and there was therefore nothing to return and “nothing legally capable of being returned”.
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