The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has said €300,000 in overcharged rent has been returned to tenants by landlords as a result of its investigations carried out since 2019.
Back in 2019, the RTB was granted regulatory powers to investigate and sanction landlords who have breached certain aspects of rental legislation.
Today, it published details of the latest sanctions on nine landlords, which range from a written caution up to a fine of €2,684.
In total, the RTB has published details of 38 sanctions to date.
It said 90% related to breaches of the Rent Pressure Zone limits.
So far, landlords have paid almost €38,000 in sanctions.
As of today, the RTB said 440 investigations are underway into landlords, and are at varying stages.
The RTB can begin an investigation, either as a result of information received from members of the public, or as a result of information gathered from records that the RTB has access to under the Residential Tenancies Act.
"If a landlord has committed an improper conduct, they can be sanctioned by an independent decision maker with a written caution and/or a monetary sanction up to €15,000 and/or costs up to €15,000," the RTB said in a statement.
It said all decisions to sanction must be confirmed in the Circuit Court.
"Once the sanctions are confirmed by the Circuit Court and all administrative and legal procedures have been completed, the RTB is legally obliged to publish the details of the sanctions."
Niall Byrne, Director of the RTB, said while the vast majority of landlords work to ensure good relations with their tenants and to comply with rental law, those who fail to observe the law and who breach the legal rights of tenants will be held accountable by the RTB.
"Rent Pressure Zones are in place as a protective measure for tenants during the current housing crisis and is important that the RTB is actively working to ensure there is compliance with this important public interest measure," Mr Byrne said.
"To date, over 90% of the sanctions published relate to this serious breach of tenants' legal protections.
"We received a high level of co-operation from the landlords in these particular investigations and this was reflected in the sanctions imposed," he said.
Mr Byrne reminded landlords of their obligations to ensure they have all their tenancy details up to date with the RTB, that tenancies are registered annually, and that landlords follow all of the statutory rules when setting and reviewing rents.
"If landlords find themselves in a situation where they are not complaint with rental law, I would urge landlords to take action early to remedy the situation so they do not become the subject of an investigation, which could result in sanctions and costs of up to €30,000," he said.
