Nephew who lived ‘rent-free’ with uncle takes dispute to RTB

A Dublin man whose nephew lived in his home “rent-free” for a year has been ordered to pay damages for unlawfully terminating the tenancy.Brian O’Rourke lodged a dispute with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) against his uncle, Gerard Phelan, arguing that his tenancy was unlawfully terminated.Phelan, who claimed his nephew was “facing homelessness” when he agreed to allow him to move into his family home in Swords, north Dublin, argued it was a “temporary arrangement” and not a tenancy.He told an RTB tribunal his nephew never gave “any money”, “never paid any utility bills” and claimed that although O’Rourke agreed to do the gardening, he had “hay fever so he could not do that either”.READ MOREPhelan said he and his wife were living in his mother-in-law’s house at the time for insurance reasons while it was vacant, adding there was never “any intention” to enter a tenancy agreement with his nephew.He said he believed the arrangement fell under the rent-a-room scheme, though he accepted he never lived at the property at the same time as his nephew.O’Rourke, meanwhile, argued that a tenancy had existed, pointing to a spreadsheet sent by his uncle showing rent arrears and utility bills, which he said showed rent due of €1,100 per month.He also maintained he had requested a formal lease though this was “never forthcoming”.His uncle claimed the spreadsheet was sent to show O’Rourke “how expensive” it was to maintain the house, claiming he did not expect “any payments” from him.Phelan said his nephew was happy to pay rent in September 2021, when he moved in but, as time went on, he said it became apparent he was “never going to pay any rent”, according to a tribunal report published on Friday.He subsequently told his nephew there was “no need” to pay rent but that he could rent out other rooms, which he did. Rent from other tenants was paid to Phelan, the tribunal heard.He also told the tribunal O’Rourke’s father ultimately gave him a payment of €5,000.[ Tenant who hired private investigator to surveil home after eviction notice awarded damagesOpens in new window ]About a year after his nephew moved in, he said he told him he was not happy with the arrangement and that it was no longer working. Phelan said “any trust” between them had broken down.He ultimately changed the locks of the property and placed his nephew’s belongings into bags on October 1st, 2022. He said he would have been willing to give his nephew more time to leave had he been “willing to leave”.O’Rourke said he received an email from his uncle arguing no notice was required as it was a “rent-a-room situation”.He maintained he had paid €1,000 in September 2021 but had no bank records to confirm this, adding he “may have” made some cash payments to his uncle. He also told the tribunal he did tend to the garden.[ Dublin tenant who told RTB of ceiling piece falling on ‘son’s cot’ awarded damagesOpens in new window ]The tribunal ruled that a tenancy had been in place between the parties, saying Phelan appeared to have “fundamentally misunderstood” the terms of the rent-a-room scheme.It said it was satisfied that rent was set at about €1,100 per month and, “on the balance of probabilities”, O’Rourke “never paid any rent”.Regardless, it determined Phelan had carried out an unlawful termination.Assessing damages, the tribunal said it was conscious Phelan “genuinely thought that he was entering into a family arrangement/rent-a-room agreement”.It said it was also conscious O’Rourke lived in the home “rent-free” for about 11 months and “did not contribute to the utility bills”.It deemed €500 in damages “an appropriate award” and ordered Phelan to pay it within 28 days.