# Is PRTB a waste of time? advice on pursuing ex tenant for costs through the PRTB



## march (7 Oct 2008)

We are considering going to the PRTB as our tenant left our property in a huge mess, didn't give the required notice, stole contents of our property and damaged a lot of what was left.

She owes us 1900 euro in rent, for not giving adequate notice, refurbishment costs for us to put the property back together again amount to about 2000 euro approx. Her security deposit is 900 which we have kept.

Any advice on pursuing her for costs through the PRTB would be much appreciated. 

We have the address of her solicitor as post came for her with their stamp on it, so could use that to send correspondence to (we think?)

Thanks in advance


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## ubiquitous (8 Oct 2008)

Is she going to have the money to pay you, even if the PRTB and/or the courts rule in your favour?


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## Capricorn 1 (8 Oct 2008)

It's definitely worth pursuing the case through the PRTB.  It won't cost you anything only the time off work to attend the hearing.

I took a case against a tenant who left abruptly owing money and won the case.  The tenant did not turn up to the hearing and I was awarded the rent due and my costs for attending the hearing.  The only drawback, is that it is a long process.  It took over a year.

You would have to have an address for the ex-tenant, but as you say, you might be able to get this from the solicitor.  Also, it would be good to have photos as proof of the damage done to your apartment.


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## twofor1 (8 Oct 2008)

You have lost the rent but the €900 deposit will help with the €2K it will take to put the property as it was, this €2K can also be offset against income for tax purposes.

You are still out of pocket and have been greatly inconvenienced but your tenant is gone, you can let again. My opinion is the stress and hassle of the long PRTB process is hardly worth it to be awarded something that you probably can never realistically recover.

The solicitors stamp on the letter only tells you it’s from a solicitor, not necessarily your tenant’s solicitor.


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## march (8 Oct 2008)

Thanks very much for taking time to reply.

We made out our costs and the final figure she owes us is just over 3k, so for that much money we will pursue through PRTB. 

She has a state paid job so should have money to pay.

We could still take it further through the courts and have a judgement against her (if we did win a case against her) it would give some satisfaction in the event of not getting money.

This happened to us at a time where we are in great financial difficulty so we cannot afford to just let it go.

Was listening to Joe Duffy today and its terrible what some people have to put up with. 

Capricorn1 glad to hear you got some success..


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## johnspica (9 Oct 2008)

It appears that the PRTB was set up by people who were not aware of the scale of the job they were  being asked to do, they got swamped at the start and have never caught up. The registration process takes up a huge part of their staff, should have been digital and online from day one. There appears to be a civil service approach to the entire. They think its acceptable now to take 4 weeks to acknowledge a registration, 5-7 months to start the dispute process. They are now saying that they may not pursue defaulters as they cannot afford the time or resources to do it.

Of all the misguided moves made by the current government this will forever rank in my mind as the most stupid. The PRTB have failed and are continuing to fail. What I cannot understand is why nobody has sued them for negligence?


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## Bronte (10 Oct 2008)

Capricorn 1 said:


> It's definitely worth pursuing the case through the PRTB. It won't cost you anything only the time off work to attend the hearing.
> 
> I took a case against a tenant who left abruptly owing money and won the case. The tenant did not turn up to the hearing and I was awarded the rent due and my costs for attending the hearing. The only drawback, is that it is a long process. It took over a year.
> 
> You would have to have an address for the ex-tenant, but as you say, you might be able to get this from the solicitor. Also, it would be good to have photos as proof of the damage done to your apartment.


  Fair enough you've won your case at the PRTB - have you got your money from the tenant?


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## Bronte (10 Oct 2008)

OP from my dealings with just the registration in the PRTB I would suggest you are wasting your time.  They make 'decisions' which are useless.  What good is a piece of paper that says yes the tenant owes you X.  What will the tenant do with this - they can ignore it as far as I understand it and the only way is to then go to court which can be costly.  If I ever have to go down this route I think I will go to court first if I can.  The only positive thing you have said is that your tenant has a state job so that is a person who it is worth pursing.


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## johnspica (10 Oct 2008)

Therein lies the problem. My understanding is that you cannot go to court first, you have to go to the prtb. Someone will have to sue the prtb to force them to collect money outstanding, only then will it change.


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## aircobra19 (10 Oct 2008)

This won't help with the speed of processing cases...

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/humiliation-for-gormley-over-posts-1494980.html



> Mr Gormley's explanation for appointing two councillors to the Private Residential Tenancies Board was described as "deeply embarrassing" after it emerged that local authority members are barred from serving. The blunder invalidated 120 decisions of the board -- which has since had to sit again in order to re-ratify its verdicts in disputed cases.


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## Bronte (10 Oct 2008)

I knew about the two councillors being invalidly appointed and it just shows you what the goverment think of organisations they create. It seems to be another body to appoint political allies to.  So I'm not surprised about it.


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