A tribunal has upheld an eviction notice issued by a landlord who claimed a tenant threatened to murder her and her children after she confronted him about alleged antisocial behaviour at the property.
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal directed tenants Chloe Crawford and David Ward to pay landlords Lorraine and John Ryan €3,150 in rent arrears and €2,500 damages for breach of tenant obligations. The tenants, who did not appear before the tribunal to contest the landlords’ evidence, were also ordered to vacate the dwelling at Dunlo Harbour, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, within 21 days of the tribunal’s order.
The January 2025 notice of termination had been declared invalid by an RTB adjudicator last June, but the Ryans successfully appealed this decision to a tribunal of the RTB.
In a decision published on Friday, the tribunal said it was satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the uncontested evidence of the landlords proved Crawford and Ward breached their tenant obligations by behaving antisocially in or around the property. The tribunal found the landlords were subjected to “serious and alarming threats” from the tenants, causing them fear.
It held that the tenants, who paid €1,050 per month via State housing assistance payments, engaged in ongoing littering and dumping of their personal items at and near the dwelling and continually behaved disruptively, which “interfered with the neighbours’ peaceful occupation” of their homes.
It was noted that Lorraine Ryan claimed she received numerous complaints from the complex’s management company and from other neighbours in the building about Crawford and Ward’s behaviour. She said neighbours alleged the tenants harassed them, played loud music late at night and were generally disruptive.
She said she had footage showing Garda cars outside the property and CCTV recordings of the tenants dumping rubbish in the common areas of the complex, which she cleaned up.
She told the tribunal she noticed the property’s windows were smashed and a door was hanging off its hinges. She alleged she was abused and threatened by Crawford when she went to speak to her at the property. Shortly afterwards, Ryan alleged, Ward phoned her and threatened to murder her and her children if she returned to the property or contacted Crawford again.
She told the tribunal she could not handle the hassle and anxiety of being a landlord so she and her husband decided they would sell up. They served an eviction notice on the tenants in January 2025 requiring them to vacate that July.
However, she claimed, Crawford and Ward remained past that date and owed €3,150 in arrears by the time the RTB tribunal hearing occurred.
Making its findings and orders, the tribunal noted the tenants did not appear at the hearing to contest the claims or submit their own evidence. It ordered the tenants to continue paying rent before vacating the property within 21 days of the tribunal’s order.