Pic: Emma Jervis/ Press 22
Free mediation services are being introduced to help resolve disputes between landlords and tenants within a shorter time frame – and in a legally binding deal.
Hitherto the Board’s telephone mediation service has drawn out case-closure over a minimum of six weeks and up to three months.
Last year almost 4,000 conflict cases were up before the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) for resolution.
The commencement of provisions in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 to provide for free mediation were led by (at time of press) Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly and Minister with Responsibility for Housing, Planning and Coordination of the Construction 2020 Strategy, Paudie Coffey.
The Board was established as an independent body under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.
Its effect has been opposite for too many. PRTB has history: of requiring landlords to adhere to stiffly worded procedure in notifications and timeframes or nullifying procedure; of being understaffed heavily; of a conflicted executive; of being far too slow to bring parties together for remedial action.
A party, be they landlord or tenant, referring a dispute to the PRTB may choose to have their dispute resolved by either mediation or adjudication.
A fee of €25 has been charged to applicants when applying to have their dispute resolved by the PRTB and the fee is €15 where the application is made online. The new provisions introduced in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provide that the Board may not charge a fee where a party chooses to have their dispute resolved by mediation.
“Mediation saves time and money for landlords and tenants alike. It is respectful, non-adversarial and highly successful in achieving mutually agreeable resolutions to disputes,” observed Minister Kelly. “The introduction of these provisions builds on the rent stability measures already introduced by me in December, by giving tenants free access to a key dispute resolution process”.
The incoming process provides parties in dispute the opportunity to avail of a trained mediator who assists both parties in reaching an agreement without the need for the parties to attend a hearing or engage directly with each other.
According to the Minister, mediation is fast, convenient and the terms of the agreements are legally binding and enforceable. The PRTB also offers a telephone mediation service as a convenient way to address disputes quickly and effectively.
In his role of Housing and Planning, Minister Coffey drew attention to evidence of speedier solutions in recent times: “The telephone mediation service introduced by the PRTB in late 2013 has been a major success. Processing times for telephone mediation cases were typically 10 to 12 weeks during 2014 and improved further to six to nine weeks in 2015.”
