FORMER minister of State Robert Troy received local authority Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) for a rental property that was not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) when the tenancy began.
Documents obtained by the Irish Mail on Sunday indicate that Mr Troy was receiving publicly funded HAP since August 2021 for a 12-month tenancy that has only just been registered with the RTB in August 2022.
The latest 12-month rental contract for the one-bed flat at Mary Street, in the centre of Mullingar, is dated August 1, 2021 – just over a year ago.
However, according to recent RTB correspondence, this latest tenancy has just been registered.
Under the contract between Mr Troy and his HAP tenant, most of the €700 monthly rent is paid directly to Mr Troy’s bank account from council housing assistance funds.
The terms and conditions of the HAP scheme state that landlords ‘Failure to register with the RTB is an offence’
This means they must register a tenancy with the RTB – a requirement aimed at ensuring tax compliance and protecting tenants’ rights. To ensure all HAP landlords have registered with the RTB, local authorities send lists to the RTB of landlords receiving HAP money. This lets the RTB check that all tenancies where HAP is being paid have been registered.
The RTB said it ‘takes noncompliance very seriously and is committed to discharging its role and actively regulating the residential rental sector’.
RTB Spokesperson.
Despite such checks, the one-bed flat owned by Mr Troy does not appear to have been registered in August 2021. Instead, the tenant received a letter from the RTB this week, just over a year after their tenancy began. The letter is dated August 4, 2022.
‘It is the responsibility of landlords to register residential tenancies,’ the letter reads. ‘I wish to inform you that your landlord has registered your tenancy which commenced on August 1, 2021, with the RTB.’ According to the tenant, this is the first RTB correspondence they have ever received.
The MoS asked Mr Troy why he appears not to have registered this tenancy with the RTB until now – and how he was able to get HAP without having done so.
In response he said: ‘I once again received confirmation from my letting agent that all is in order and all has been registered with RTB since the beginning of tenancies in 2019.’
The 2019 date refers to the date when Mr Troy first began letting the three one-bed units at the Mary Street property, which he had bought the year before.
Mr Troy’s receipt of undeclared HAP and Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) payments is one of the omissions that led to his resignation this week as a junior minister at the Department of Enterprise.
The precise details of any such payments he receives remain unclear, although Westmeath County Council is expected to make these details public imminently.
When asked if the RTB was investigating reported and apparent breaches by Mr Troy of registration regulations, a spokesman said the board could not comment on individual cases.
However, in a statement, the RTB said it ‘takes noncompliance very seriously and is committed to discharging its role and actively regulating the residential rental sector’.
‘Failure to register is an offence that may result in a criminal conviction, a fine of up to €4,000 and/or up to six months’ imprisonment,’ the statement added.
‘Non-compliance with tenancy registration requirements may alternatively result in a sanction through the investigations and sanctions powers of the RTB which commenced in July 2019,’ the statement continued.
‘Failure to register is one of the nine improper conducts that can be investigated using these powers. Where it is found that improper conduct has occurred, the result can be a civil sanction or a caution, and/or a fine of up to €15,000 and up to €15,000 costs against the landlord if they are found to have breached the legislation.’
