Tenancy Tribunal - To Hear Or Not To Hear

One of the recent updates as a result of the final phase of the Residential Tenancies Act 2024 was introducing the ability of the Tenancy Tribunal to make a decision on a case without the need for a Tenancy Tribunal hearing.

The motivation behind this change is to reduce the need for in person hearings for some tribunal applications, freeing the system up to deal with the complex cases more quickly and reducing wait times for hearings which in some cases can take weeks or months.

There are limits to the types of decisions that the tribunal can make without holding a hearing, the likely cases which could be decided on without a hearing are:

  • Rental arrears with a conclusive rent ledger and no tenancy termination request

  • Undisputed bond claims

The new procedure does however specify cases that would not be able to be decided without a hearing such as:

  • Any case where a party has requested termination of the tenancy

  • Disputes over landlord entry to a property

  • Complex cases where an in person hearing would be more appropriate

When making an application to the tenancy tribunal, the applicant is able to stipulate if they are willing to have a decision made without a hearing, but ultimately the tenancy tribunal will determine which method is appropriate based on the application and dispute.

With rent arrears and bond disputes making up the top two of the five most applied for orders in 2024, we hope to see that the new process will achieve its goal of reducing wait times for tenancy tribunal hearings.

James Moran