Evicted from Cork home for being pregnant; Landlady says the neighbours wouldn’t like the baby crying

The shocking situation was highlighted by the housing charity Threshold, which brought the case to the attention of the Residential Tenancies Board after the expectant mother presented to it in an upset and frightened state.
Threshold assistant manager Conor Lynch said it has dealt with a number of other concerning evictions but that this case was particularly distressing.
“She was six months pregnant when she explained the situation to her landlady,” said Mr Lynch.
“The landlady told her that she would have to leave before the baby arrived. It was very bad practice. Her excuse was that the neighbours in the apartments ‘wouldn’t like the crying’.
“The tenant had waited until late in her pregnancy to tell the landlady because she was afraid of what the reaction might be.”

Mr Lynch spoke of how the landlady attempted to intimidate the mum-to-be, resulting in intervention from gardaí.
“There were more incidents where she was going up to the house and behaving very abusively towards the tenant. This woman was from overseas so we were her only support.”
Mr Lynch said the Threshold team knew they had to act fast to help the woman.
“We put in a case for the Residential Tenancies Board for threatened illegal eviction. The landlady was ordered to pay €3,500.”
