A landlord has been ordered to pay more than €10,000 in damages after disconnecting a family’s electricity supply and changing the locks during an illegal eviction “in the middle of the winter”.
A Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal in July also ordered the landlord, Christopher Bates, to return €1,099 in rent that was retained despite tenant Krzysztof Kawa paying it in advance of the illegal eviction.
Mr Bates was also ordered to pay some €460 storage costs incurred by Mr Kawa as a result of the eviction and an unjustifiably withheld deposit of €1,050.
While he had served a notice of termination in October 2022 with a vacate date of June 5th, Mr Bates said he had “pleaded” with the tenants since January 2023 to leave the property.
Mr Bates said he had been living with his son at the time and required the property for himself, asking did the RTB “expect him to live on the street”, according to the tribunal report.
He confirmed no rent arrears were due and that Mr Kawa had been a good tenant while he resided at the house at Adamstown Avenue, Lucan, Co Dublin.
Randall Burkhardt, representing the tenant, said Mr Kawa had been living in the property with his family for 13 years before the locks were changed and the electricity cut off “in the middle of the winter”.
The tribunal found Mr Bates had illegally evicted the family when he changed the locks and disconnected the electricity supply on November 18th, 2023, before returning four days later and “forcing the tenants into leaving”.
Although the tenants had not moved out by the date specified in a notice of termination, the landlord “took the law into his own hands”, it said, adding that Mr Bates effectively gave the family four days to move out, during which they were left living without electricity.
Mr Bates claimed his son, who is a fire officer, disconnected electricity to the property as there were burnt plug sockets that could have gone on fire “at any moment”, though he admitted to changing the locks to the house.
Mr Kawa was living in the house with his wife, his son and his son’s girlfriend at the time.
He said his daughter who had just had a baby was in hospital at the time of the eviction, and his grandson, who was also staying at the house, was on antibiotics, which had to be stored in the fridge.
When the electricity was cut off, they had to move the child elsewhere, he said, while all of their food was lost.
Mr Kawa said gardaí were called on November 18th, however, he claimed he was told it was a civil matter.
He said his family had to live in a two-bedroom apartment over a takeaway until they moved to a house on December 20th, 2023.
Mr Kawa said his wife had been “badly affected” by the eviction, while his son did not want to go to school.
He said he was “embarrassed” as he was unable to find a home for his family, adding he had to take time off work and slept in his car on one occasion.
Mr Kawa said some of their belongings, spanning 13 years, had to be left behind.
Mr Bates was ordered to pay €12,609 in total within 28 days, comprising damages, storage costs incurred as well as rent paid in advance of the eviction and an unjustifiably withheld security deposit.
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