Landlord Wins Rent Arrears Case Against Tenant: Rio Vista Apartments Ltd v Rooney

Case Study

The Tenant has not paid the total rent the Tenant was required to pay for the period from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021. Because of the arrears, the Landlord served a Notice of Termination effective August 8, 2020. The Tenant made no payments after the application was filed. The Landlord collected a rent deposit of $1,418.00 from the Tenant and this deposit is still being held by the Landlord. Interest on the rent deposit is owing to the Tenant for the period from March 1, 2020 to August 8, 2020. The parties did not dispute the amount of arrears owing to February 28, 2021, which are $17,202.00 (inclusive of the $186.00 filing fee). However, the Landlord maintained their request for a standard voidable order, whereas the Tenant requested a repayment plan to keep the tenancy intact. The adjudicator considered all of the disclosed circumstances in accordance with section 83 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the 'Act'), including the impact of COVID-19 on the parties and whether the Landlord attempted to negotiate a repayment agreement with the Tenant, and found that it would not be unfair to grant relief from eviction subject to the conditions set out in the order pursuant to subsection 83(1)(a) and 204(1) of the Act.