Tenant’s eviction from Mount Suir over ‘antisocial’ allegations deemed invalid
One of the Mount Suir apartment blocks.
A Mount Suir resident was served an invalid Notice of Termination after they were accused of ‘antisocial behaviour’.
In a tribunal hearing, the former tenant alleged that they returned to the flat in late November 2025 to find the heating and water shut off.
The RTB ruled that the landlord wanted the tenant to move out of the flat, which resulted in ‘necessary repairs not being carried out’.
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has ordered the landlord to pay the tenants €1,500 for breach of obligations and to pay back their security deposit of €1,200.
Dejan Bodetic and his spouse entered a one-year lease agreement with William Neville & Son Construction Unlimited Company on April 1, 2024.
They lived in a third floor flat on Block B, Mount Suir Manor, Gracedieu, paying €1,200 a month in rent.
The landlord said at an RTB tribunal hearing that he did not wish to renew the lease in April 2025 over ‘issues with subletting’.
However, he clarified that ‘no notices were served on the tenants at that time’.
On September 17, 2025, Mr. Bodetic received a letter requesting him and his partner out of the dwelling by December 1.
The letter claimed that they were being asked to leave due to ‘anti-social behaviour’ including ‘smoking in the corridor’, which set off the fire alarm.
The landlord stated that the security deposit would be withheld from the tenants to cover the cost of ‘re-setting the fire alarm’.
There was no evidence presented of the tenants smoking in the corridor.
Mr Bodetic claimed to have requested a new contract with the landlord in November 2025 but did not receive one.
In his submission to the RTB, he claimed to have voiced concerns over the safety of the balcony to the landlord.
On November 27, 2025, the Mr Bodetic returned home to find there was no heating and no hot water in the flat.
That same day, the landlord served a Notice of Termination ordering him to leave the dwelling within the week due to alleged infractions.
According to the landlord, these breaches included: 'Subletting rooms in apartment on Airbnb, causing noise pollution and other disturbance to the other residents in the block late at night, which resulted in the Gardai having to call to the apartment on a number of occasions to restore the peace by moving one or other of the tenants from the building, keeping a pet in the apartment which contravenes the terms of your lease.'
Mr Bodetic claimed that he sublet the apartment on one occasion in 2024, that he only smoked on the balcony of the flat and had never kept a pet.
He confirmed that Gardaí had called to the dwelling on one occasion but there were no other instances of noise.
The report stated: 'He said the Gardai have been in the apartment block on numerous occasions dealing with issues in other apartments.'
In March 2026, the locks of the flat were changed without Mr Bodetic’s knowledge.
He claimed to have paid rent until November 2025 when the water and heat was shut off.
There was a disagreement between both parties about when Mr Bodetic stopped paying rent.
However, the issue of rent arrears was not before the tribunal.
The parties attended a tribunal hearing on April 14, 2026.
Mr Bodetic claimed that his health suffered due to living in the cold flat: 'The tenant outlined that the lack of heating in the dwelling affected his asthma. He said he slipped in the bath and fractured his arm trying to wash himself in the shower with cold water.
'He referred to documentation submitted to the RTB from his doctor regarding his injury and asthma.'
The landlord claimed that the tenants had received three noise complaints in November and one in December 2025.
The tribunal report reads: “He stated that he did not keep a copy of the CCTV footage regarding the complaint outlined in his letter to the tenant dated the 17 September 2025, of the tenants smoking in the corridor and setting off the smoke alarm.”
The landlord claimed there was a ‘fear factor amongst the tenants in other apartments’ in relation to his former tenant.
Determination At the tribunal hearing, the tenant alleged that the landlord installed new protection around the balcony only two weeks before the hearing.
The landlord was found to have failed in maintaining the standards of a rented dwelling.
According to the tribunal report: 'He [Landlord] said that the pump was reported as being broken after a night where there was ferocious banging in the dwelling.
'He explained that no works were carried out to the pump in the dwelling as he was not comfortable entering the dwelling due to the behaviour of the tenants.'
The determination order was made on June 16, 2026.
The RTB rejected the validity of the Notice of Termination as the there was no substantive evidence of anti-social behaviour shown by the tenants: 'The tribunal notes the lack of any corroborative evidence from the landlord.'
The Board also deemed William Neville & Son Construction to be in breach of their obligations Section 12 (1)(b) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.
The breach concerned the failure to maintain standard and repair issues in the dwelling.
The landlord was ordered to pay Mr Bodetic €1,500 for breach of obligations.
