PLANS FOR NEW laws aimed at punishing landlords who wrongfully withhold their tenants’ deposits have been announced, following the publication of a damning report by the national housing organisation on Tuesday.
The Irish Examiner reports that the Housing Minister, Michael Finneran, has prompted the move after the report from Threshold showed that increasing numbers of landlords are withholding deposits. The report also highlighted poor accommodation standards and the growing problem of illegal evictions.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Finneran said that landlord who act unethically could face fines:
I am very hopeful that the introduction of significant automatic penalties will seriously reduce the volume of deposit retention difficulties.
He indicated that the potential fine landlords could face may be two or three time the size of the original deposit.
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