86 warning letters threatening eviction have been sent to tenants in rent arrears in Clare over a nine-month period during the pandemic.
A new planning act came into force in January, requiring those in financial difficulty due to the pandemic to meet certain criteria in order to retain protection.
However, those who can’t meet the criteria or who fail to fill in the Self-Declaration, can be served with warning letters.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, two pieces of legislation were introduced to protect the most vulnerable tenants.
Under the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act (RTVA), which was in place from August 2020 until January 10th 2021, protections were extended for those financially impacted by Covid-19, in rent arrears and at risk of losing their residence.
However, this act lifted the ‘blanket ban’ on evictions which was introduced under the Emergency Measures Act.
In January of this year, another new act; the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies Act came into force.
Under the PDRTA, if a tenant meets specific criteria demonstrating they’ve been financially impacted by Covid-19 and in rent arrears, they can avail of protections where they cannot be made to leave their rental accommodation before 12 July 2021, must receive a 90-day notice period and cannot see a rent increase until after 12 July 2021.
Tenants must fill in a Self-Declaration to avail of these protections.
However, for those who don’t meet the criteria or for those who fail to fill out the Self-Declaration, landlords are entitled to end a tenancy but must follow certain rules.
Tenants, along with the Rent Tenancy Board have to receive a 28-day warning notice which allows this number of days to repay any arrears.
If this doesn’t happen, then a 28-day eviction notice can be issues.
In this county, a total of 86 warning letters were sent to tenants between August 2020 and May of this year.
However, less than 30 Self-Declarations were recorded in Clare in the same period.
Nationally, 3,810 warning letters were issued, while 475 tenants registered Self-Declarations.
The current protections available to tenants will expire next Monday.
