A landlord who refused to sign an application form for a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), despite repeated requests over several years, has been ordered to pay €7,500 compensation to a tenant.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the landlord, Vincent Smith, had breached the Equal Status Act 2000 by discriminating against his tenant, David Colledge, on grounds of housing assistance.
The WRC heard that Mr Colledge had been a tenant of Mr Smith for around 12 years.
The tenant gave evidence that his landlord consistently refused to sign the relevant forms for him to claim the HAP since December 16, 2019 and most recently on June 17, 2023.
The complainant said his rent supplement has been frozen at the same amount for seven years because of his landlord's refusal to sign the documentation which had caused him considerable financial difficulty as he cares for his disabled mother.
In June 2023, Mr Colledge claimed the landlord retaliated to his request to sign the HAP forms by serving him with an eviction notice which was overturned on appeal to the Residential Tenancies Board.
He also pointed out that his rent has been increased two or three times since he first raised the issue.
In addition, Mr Colledge claimed he had been subjected to continuing harassment by Mr Smith through text messages, telephone calls and entering the premises uninvited including to issue the eviction notice.
However, Mr Smith claims he was asked in 2019 to enter into an agreement with Mr Colledge for a four-year lease which he could not do due to difficult personal circumstances relating to his own accommodation situation.
The landlord explained that was the reason why he did not process the tenant’s HAP application as there was uncertainty of tenure about his own current principal residence.
Mr Smith said the situation might have needed him to use the tenant’s rented premises for his personal use.
The WRC heard that the matter had not been resolved and has been the subject of separate legal proceedings, while the landlord has reissued Mr Colledge with a notice to quit the premises as he will need it for himself.
Mr Smith said he had no objection to signing the HAP forms but he did not wish to extend the lease unnecessarily.
The landlord’s solicitor also argued that the complaint against his client was submitted outside the statutory time limit as it related to an incident in 2019.
WRC adjudication officer, Pat Brady, said he was satisfied that the complainant had discharged the burden of proof that he was discriminated against on the housing assistance ground in respect of the incident on June 17, 2023, by being treated less favourably than someone not in receipt of HAP.
"It was the latest in a continuous pattern of obstruction by the respondent," said Mr Brady who ruled that the complaint relating to that incident was submitted within the statutory time limit.
He claimed various points of mitigation put forward by Mr Smith, which did not contradict his tenant’s evidence, did not provide him with a defence.
"The possibility that the respondent might need the premises for his personal use at some unspecified time in the future does not permit him to obstruct a tenant’s application," said Mr Brady.
The WRC official said he would take Mr Colledge’s serious and credible allegation of harassment, which was not contested, into account in fixing an award.
He ordered the landlord to pay his tenant compensation of €7,500 and also ordered him to immediately comply with assisting Mr Colledge with his HAP application.
The WRC also directed him "to take all necessary steps to ensure the application is processed as long as the tenancy remains in force."
In a similar case, another landlord, Mostofa Uddin, was ordered to pay his tenant, Jabul Islam, compensation of €10,000 for discriminating against him on grounds of housing assistance.
The WRC heard that Mr Uddin refused to have anything to do with filling out paperwork when his tenant asked him to sign HAP forms as Mr Islam was struggling to pay the monthly rent of €1,200 on the property.
Mr Islam claimed he had incurred losses of almost €7,900 over the time.
The landlord, who did not attend the WRC hearing, was ordered to pay the compensation within 42 days.
