Landlord tells ex-tenant he will return valuables if she knocks €16,000 off her Residential Tenancies Board award

Gabriela Lake hits out at ‘audacity’ of defendant Colin O’Sullivan in rent dispute cases

Landlord tells ex-tenant he’ll return valuables if she knocks €16,000 off her RTB Award.

A landlord who illegally evicted a ­tenant has said he will return her valuable first-edition books if they will be ­offset against the €18,500 damages he was ordered to pay by the rental watchdog.

Gabriela Lake, who previously ­rented a house in Union Hall, Skibbereen, west Cork, from landlord Colin O’Sullivan, has been awarded nearly €40,000 after taking two cases with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) over her “horrendous” experience. She has yet to receive a penny.

Ms Lake is currently trying to get one of the cases enforced through the ­District Court, while Mr O’Sullivan ­appealed the second case. A tribunal hearing is due to take place next month.

Despite being ordered by the RTB to return all of her belongings, Mr ­O’Sullivan insisted that he was “forced to dispose” of everything.

Clothes, iPads, jewellery, furniture and sentimental items from her late husband were all left in the house.

However, in a letter sent through his solicitors this month, Mr O’Sullivan ­advised he has now “retrieved” books that she left on the mantelpiece, estimated to be worth €16,000.

He was ordered by the RTB to pay €18,500 for unlawfully evicting Ms Lake and her daughter.

After claiming he had disposed of all her belongings, Mr O’Sullivan has now said her books are being held at his ­solicitor’s office “on trust”.

“Ms Lake gave evidence to the effect that she had left books on the mantelpiece worth €16,000,” the solicitor’s letter states.

“Mr O’Sullivan has retrieved these books and this office holds the same on trust, which we trust will be accepted as part payment of the sum of €18,500.

“There is therefore a balance of €2,500 and we will be in contact with you in relation thereto.

“Very many thanks indeed and in all of the circumstances, we would regard any steps in relation to the enforcement of this matter as entirely unnecessary.”

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Ms Lake said this had been one of the most stressful times of her life.

“I can’t see how he has the ­audacity to tell me he will return my books – which he was ordered to return by the RTB months ago – if I agree they can be offset against the €18,500 awarded to me,” she said.

When Ms Lake took a second RTB case against Mr O’Sullivan after he claimed he disposed of all her belongings, she was awarded €20,000 – the maximum amount that can be ordered. This decision was subsequently appealed and will be heard on November 7.

Following the eviction, she could not retrieve her car keys from inside the house. She subsequently found her Fiat car burnt out and her Chrysler minivan is also missing.

The RTB ruled that it was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the landlord was responsible for the loss and damage after he did not contest evidence given at the hearing.

A witness who called to the property with Ms Lake’s daughter told the RTB that Mr O’Sullivan said “there was no way he was going to allow Ms Lake back into the dwelling, that he was going to put the tenants’ belongings in the shed and was going to burn the cars as they were only junk”.

Ms Lake previously made a complaint of criminal damage to gardaí in relation to the burnt-out vehicle and the disappearance of her belongings.

However, she has now learned that no case will be pursued. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) found there was too much uncertainty concerning what had happened to each piece of property and noted that the last registered owner of the vehicle is now deceased. The owner was Ms Lake’s late husband.

The Irish Independent contacted Mr O’Sullivan for comment but did not receive a response.

Ms Lake had lived in the property for nearly four years and no issues had arisen – until September last year.

A dispute unfolded when Ms Lake and her family were on an extended holiday in America and she asked one of her three daughters to transfer the rent in her absence.

During the summer, her daughter’s friend died by suicide, and due to the stress in her personal life she had forgotten to deposit the rent for July and August. Mr O’Sullivan contacted Ms Lake in September asking about the rent payments and warned he would dump her belongings within two weeks.

She apologised, explained the situation with her daughter and transferred the money. Ms Lake also paid September’s rent and heard nothing further from Mr O’Sullivan – until her youngest daughter returned to the house in October and was refused access.

Gardaí were called to the property and she was able to retrieve some items, including her late father’s ashes.

In his previous evidence to the RTB, Mr O’Sullivan claimed Ms Lake was in arrears and accused her of causing significant damage to the property.

The RTB found there was insufficient evidence that the tenants had breached their obligations, the RTB said, and there was no evidence of arrears after the rent for July and August had been paid.