Tenant made homeless over landlord's refusal to sign HAP form for apartment awarded €2k
Seán McCárthaigh
A tenant who was made homeless after his landlord refused to sign a Housing Assistance Payment form to help him pay his rent after his work was reduced to zero hours has been awarded compensation of €2,000.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the owner of an apartment in Cork city, Jun Ding, had breached the Equal Status Act over his refusal to sign the HAP form.
The tenant, Jakub Cherek, gave evidence that he rented the property from Mr Ding from March 25th, 2022, under a 12-month agreement.
Mr Cherek, a single father, said his two children usually stayed with him on weekends.
He told the WRC that his working hours were reduced to zero shortly after he signed the tenancy which is why he asked the landlord to sign a HAP form in April 2022.
However, Mr Cherek said the landlord claimed he would not sign the form because he was seeking legal advice.
Mr Cherek said he was then informed that Mr Ding needed the apartment for his in-laws.
At a later stage, the complainant said his landlord claimed the reason for not signing the HAP form was due to a breakdown of trust over not being informed that his children would be staying in the apartment.
Mr Cherek told the WRC that he struggled to keep up his rent payments while he was out of work and that the HAP would have made a huge difference.
The tenant said he became homeless after moving out of the apartment in November 2022 due to the financial pressure.
He gave evidence that he stayed with friends, in B&Bs and in his car until he was able to obtain alternative accommodation.
The WRC heard that he also struggled mentally at the time due to the stress of his situation which had delayed him filing a complaint against the landlord.
In evidence, Mr Ding denied that he had discriminated against Mr Cherek and claimed he would not have signed a 12-month lease with the complainant if he had been made aware that his tenant’s two children would also be staying in the apartment as it had no window restrictors.
Mr Ding claimed he would not sign the HAP form because of the breakdown of trust between them.
He told the WRC that he sought legal advice about it and around the same time he also needed the apartment for his in-laws which allowed him to serve a termination notice to Mr Cherek.
Asked under cross-examination why he signed a 12-month lease when he needed the property for relatives, Mr Ding said things were changing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
WRC adjudication official, Seamus Clinton, ruled that Mr Cherek was entitled to an extended deadline for filing his complaint because he had been homeless.
Mr Clinton said the landlord was not prevented from signing a HAP form even if he was in the process of serving a termination notice on his tenant at the time.
Whether intentional or not, the WRC official said Mr Ding’s refusal to sign the HAP form ultimately contributed to the tenant leaving the property.
Mr Clinton ruled that the landlord had failed to rebut the inference of discrimination and found that he had breached the Equal Status Act 2000 by his actions.
He fixed compensation at €2,000 on the basis that another tenant who would not be in receipt of HAP assistance may also have been served with a termination notice at the end of the 12-month lease because of the landlord’s needs to have the property for his extended family.
