Dublin — A corporate landlord’s attempt to evict a family from a mould-ridden Tallaght apartment has been struck down by an RTB Tribunal, which found the eviction notice was served one day too early while simultaneously awarding the tenants €5,000 in damages for years of unresolved damp, mould and maintenance failures that left family members with breathing problems, skin conditions and health complications serious enough for one tenant to stop working.
The Tribunal, chaired by Michael Valleley with members Dervla Quinn and Peter Shanley, issued its determination on December 12, 2025 in the dispute between Tempus Realty Holdings (Ireland) Limited and tenants Radu Alexandru Szakacs and Jennifer Howe over their apartment at 46 New Seskin Court, Whitestown Way, Tallaght, Dublin 24.
The case involved three separate RTB dispute files and five tribunal case files — a reflection of the length and complexity of a dispute that stretched back years.
Family Living With Seven Years of Mould
At the heart of the case was the condition of the apartment. Szakacs told the Tribunal the family had been dealing with mould problems for seven years and had to keep windows open continuously to ventilate the property.
During the Tribunal hearing, he conducted a live walkthrough of the apartment, showing current mould on the blinds, in the bathroom and on the balcony. He said the walls had been cleaned repeatedly but the mould kept returning. Mould was also present in the water supply, according to the tenants.
“We are living like animals in an apartment that is a hot box of mould,” Szakacs told the Tribunal.
He said he had fallen in the apartment, hit his head, and developed breathing problems so severe he could no longer work. Howe told the Tribunal her eczema which had cleared up before she moved in returned when exposed to the mould. She said she believed the mould may have caused her to lose a baby. The family’s children developed skin ulcers.
The Tribunal described the oral evidence of both tenants as “most compelling.”
Dublin City Council Report Confirmed Ongoing Problems
A Dublin City Council inspection report from October 2025 just two months before the Tribunal hearing confirmed three outstanding issues at the property: a leak, a bathtub problem, and mould still causing problems. The report was submitted to the Tribunal as evidence.
The landlord’s project manager, Lucian Dordea of Chartered Assets Property Limited, confirmed two attempts had been made to fix the leak. He said the most recent attempt followed the October 2025 DCC report and that they hoped the management company would resolve the issue. He acknowledged leaks can reoccur.
When asked directly whether he accepted mould issues remained, the landlord’s representative Aidan Ryan said they were “not denying or confirming this.”
Landlord Blamed Management Company — Tribunal Rejected That Defence
The landlord’s agent sought to attribute responsibility for the leak and the resulting mould to the building’s management company, arguing the apartment is on the sixth floor directly below the roof and the water ingress was a structural issue outside the landlord’s control.
The Tribunal rejected that argument entirely.
It found the landlord has a statutory obligation under Section 12(1)(b) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to maintain the interior and fittings of the dwelling in compliance with statutory standards and that obligation cannot be passed to a management company.
“The landlord has a statutory obligation to maintain the property which it has failed to do and must be liable for the inconvenience, stress and upset caused to this family by its breach,” the Tribunal determined.
The Tribunal awarded €5,000 in damages to the tenants for the breach.
Tenants Accused Agent of Entering Without Permission
Szakacs told the Tribunal that Dordea from Chartered Assets had come to the apartment uninvited on multiple occasions using his own key and had “mocked and screamed” at him during one visit.
He also alleged that the landlord’s agents had told him to “forget about the arrears” before subsequently pursuing him for payment, and that the rent increase had only come after the tenants raised complaints about conditions. He accused the landlord of attempting to remove the family in order to re-let the apartment at a higher rate.
The landlord’s representative denied that agents had told the tenants to forget about arrears.
Eviction Notice Struck Down — Served One Day Too Early
The Tribunal also invalidated the landlord’s notice of termination, dated January 9, 2025, finding it had been served one day before the statutory 28-day warning period had expired.
The landlord had served a warning notice for rent arrears on December 12, 2024, specifying that €3,672.16 was owed and giving the tenants 28 days to clear the debt. The notice of termination was then served on January 9, 2025 which the Tribunal found was only 27 days after the warning notice, not the required 28, when the date of service is excluded from the count.
The Tribunal also noted a discrepancy between the figures: the warning notice stated arrears of €3,672.16, while the subsequent termination notice stated €3,887.16 a difference of €215, on which the Tribunal made no separate finding.
“The tribunal does not see how this can be cured by serving a remedial notice of termination as the landlord simply had no right to serve any notice under S67(3) whilst the 28-day period had not expired,” the determination stated.
Net Payment of €4,706.16 Ordered
Despite invalidating the eviction notice and awarding €5,000 to the tenants for the mould failures, the Tribunal confirmed the tenants owe rent arrears which stood at €9,706.16 as of the hearing date of December 12, 2025. Both parties agreed that figure.
The Tribunal ordered the tenants to pay the net sum of €4,706.16 being the €9,706.16 arrears minus the €5,000 damages award within 90 days of the Determination Order.
The tenants are also required to continue paying rent at €2,163 per month, or €71.11 per day, until the property is vacated.
The rent of €2,163 per month, payable on the 11th of each month, was confirmed by the Tribunal on the basis of the tenancy agreement dated March 11, 2021.
The case reflects a pattern of RTB disputes in which tenants withhold rent in response to deteriorating property conditions, and landlords pursue termination for arrears while maintenance failures go unresolved. The RTB has been at the centre of several high-profile cases in recent months, including its investigation into eviction notices served on 36 Wexford households days before new rental protections took effect, and a separate case in which a Dublin tenant was ordered to vacate after the RTB also struck down the landlord’s rent increase notice as procedurally invalid.
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