A tenant of an apartment complex in which one landlord owned 48 of the units has lost a High Court appeal claiming it was the landlord’s obligation to maintain the common areas.
Leonardo De Oliveira Lima had been a tenant of an apartment at Thornleigh Row, Applewood Village, Swords, Co Dublin since 2016. In March 2022 he sought an adjudication in relation to matters including the maintenance of his apartment and of the common areas.
An adjudicator directed the landlord, Jersia Ltd, to pay him €1,000 in relation to the standard and maintenance of his flat. Both he and Jersia appealed that decision to a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal.
Mr Lima complained to the tribunal about the gates to the premises, the state of the CCTV, vandalism, antisocial conduct and cleaning. He also complained that the intercoms and heaters were damaged. He called other witnesses to give evidence about similar complaints.
Storm Éowyn Dublin update: Extensive damage in the capital as shops, transport and services begin to return
Cabinet appointments criticised as only three women become Ministers
Storm Éowyn: How the day before the red alerts unfolded
Businessman Paddy McKillen ‘became aggressive’ with bailiff at luxury €30m Paris apartment, French court hears
He believed Jersia, as landlord, was obliged to put pressure on the management company, Green Door, to provide services.
Jersia Ltd/LRC trading as LRC RE1, LRC Group, LRC Management, which was a notice party in the case, said Jersia had in 2020 acquired 48 of the Applewood Village apartments from the National Asset Management Agency.
Jersia said the complex was in a poor state, that it invested €500,000 in the development and a service charge payable by apartment owners was made to Green Door.
It also said that while efforts were made to improve the place, it was not responsible for antisocial behaviour there. Jersia alleged that in his complaint to the RTB, Mr Lima was engaged in an attempt to extort the landlord and was over-confrontational, which was denied.
Jersia also said it did not control Green Door, which had responsibility for common areas.
The tribunal ruled Jersia’s responsibility, as landlord, to maintain a tenant’s apartment, did not extend to common areas.
It found the complaints about the common areas were matters for the management company. It found the evidence did not establish the landlord and the management company were one and the same entity.
It also said Jersia had established that it complied with landlord and tenancy law by forwarding the complaints to the management company.
Mr Lima appealed the decision to the High Court. He argued, among other things, that as Jersia owned the 35-apartment block in which he lived, the concept of an owner management company had no relevance to the issues which the tribunal was required to adjudicate on.
The RTB, as respondent, opposed the appeal and said the tribunal decision should stand. Jersia, as notice party, did not participate in the appeal
Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell refused the appeal.
He said that if Mr Lima had wished to suggest Jersia’s obligations were different as a result of there being no management company or proper transfer of common areas, he should have raised that first before the tribunal. To do so as part of the appeal to the High Court was clearly impermissible, he said.
He was satisfied the tribunal did not err in law in determining that it could not uphold the adjudication that the landlord had breached its obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.
The court was also satisfied that the tribunal had explained its decision in a way that permitted Mr Lima and this court to understand what had been decided and why.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
