‘Broken’ landlord tells RTB she had to sell house after tenants’ dogs defecated on floors

A landlord of 20 years said tenants who allowed their dogs defecate inside her Co Galway property had “broken her” and she now wanted to sell the house, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has heard.
Emer Pierce said she believed there could have been up to seven or eight dogs in the property, although she could not prove this. She said when she visited the house it was in an “atrocious state” and she was “totally distraught”.
Showing the tribunal photographs, Ms Pierce said “all of the floors were destroyed with blood and faeces from dogs and that animal urine had seeped right through the flooring”, according to a tribunal report.
“She referred the tribunal to photos of the bathroom which she said were particularly gruesome,” the report said. “She said the tenants had ripped all of the carpet off the stairs and it was clear that animal faeces had penetrated through the carpet on to the wood of the stairs.”
The landlord said she had owned the property for 20 years “but that this tenancy had broken her and at this stage she felt she had no option but to sell”.
Brendan and Claire Larkin, former tenants of the property on Danesfort Drive, Loughrea, Co Galway, did not attend the hearing. They had been living in the property since February 2019, paying rent of €1,500 per month, and vacated the property in May of this year, according to the tribunal report.
The tribunal decided that the tenants owed the landlord €3,088 in rent arrears and were in breach of their obligation to ensure against excess wear and tear. On the basis of the photographs shown, it accepted the landlord’s claim for €1,855 in costs for cleaning the house, directed she was entitled to retain the security deposit of €1,200, and should be paid the remaining €655 by the tenants. The property is now up for sale, the tribunal heard.
In another case, two landlords and their agent visited a rented property in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, in October 2023 after which they went to the gardaí because they believed it was being used as a “cannabis growhouse”.
The tenants in the case brought a claim to the tribunal alleging unlawful termination of their tenancy. The identities of the parties involved are not being named for legal reasons.
A tenant told the tribunal he was arrested on the evening of the inspection and when he was released four days later he returned to the property, where his possessions had been put in a shed.
The landlord’s agent said gardaí forced the doors of the property open on the evening of the inspection and the property was later designated a crime scene. The house was left open after the Garda search so the belongings in the property were removed to a secure shed.
The property was being let for €900 a month and the tenancy had begun in March of last year, the tribunal heard.
The tribunal decided the termination of the residency was lawful and it was “reasonable” for the landlords to have contacted the gardaí.
It decided the landlords should be paid €7,395, after the deduction of a €900 deposit, to remedy damage caused by “widespread installation of ducting and piping” in the dwelling and the damage to the front door, which was the responsibility of the tenants despite being inflicted by An Garda Síochána. The sum was also to cover the loss of three months rent.