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Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Dún Laoghaire residents threatened with eviction have won a key battle against vulture funds

Tenants at St Helen’s Court were afraid their rents would be hiked in the move.

RESIDENTS OF ONE Dublin apartment block have scored what could be a crucial victory against so-called vulture funds as the locals battle to stay in their homes.

It has emerged that an adjudicator for the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has ruled that lease termination notices served on about 17 households in St Helen’s Court in Dún Laoghaire were invalid.

The notices were served by financial services firm PwC acting on behalf of Apollo Global Management and Deutsche Bank. Initially PwC looked set to challenge the RTB adjudicator’s decision.

However, it appears to have dropped its appeal in the last few weeks. This means that the RTB will soon make a final, legally binding decision based either on the adjudicator’s ruling or an agreement that can be reached between the two parties.

In August, PwC told the tenants at St Helen’s Court that they needed to leave their apartments so the complex could be refurbished.

They were told they would have the opportunity to re-rent the apartments, however the residents were afraid that they would have to pay much higher rents.

At the time, over 6,000 people signed a petition calling for Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to stop the evictions.

Landlords can only increase rents by 4% in Dublin, but this rule does not apply if refurbishments that qualify as ‘significant’ are carried out. The residents appealed the termination notices to the RTB.

Invalid

The RTB adjudication, seen by Fora, says that the termination notices served by PwC were invalid.

While the decision only relates to one apartment, the adjudicator noted that the matters in dispute for the home “are the same as other notices of termination served in respect of other units in the property (St Helen’s Court)”.

PwC, acting on behalf of Apollo and Deutsche, said it needed to renovate bathrooms, refit kitchens and disconnect water at the apartments. It argued that the residents couldn’t remain in the properties while the work took place.

St Helens Court St Helen's Court Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

However the affected tenant, Derek Crowley, argued he could remain in place and claimed he was only being moved so that the apartment’s rent could be increased from its current rate of €900 per month.

The RTB adjudicator said that the landlord unsuccessfully attempted to increase the rent just before the rent caps were introduced in December 2016.

He said: “I am satisfied that the notice of termination resulted from the landlord not achieving a higher rent from the disputed rent review.

“I am not satisfied that the landlord requires vacant premises for the works in question.”

Appeal dropped

The adjudicator also noted that residents were told that they would have to leave their apartments for 3-12 months to allow the works to be carried out.

“(This is) so broad and imprecise as to render the legal requirement to state the proposed duration of works in a notice of termination meaningless,” he said.

St Helens Court St Helen's Court Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

“In conclusion, although the landlord has a legal entitlement to renovate or refurbish he must show a necessity for vacant premises to terminate the tenancy. This has not been proved in this case.”

The adjudication was made in September. PwC then signalled that it would fight this decision and a date was set for the appeal.

However, residents in the complex have received a letter at the start of the month from the RTB saying that the appeal had been withdrawn.

“A legally binding determination order will issue to both parties in due course. (It) will be based on either the decision of the adjudicator … or an agreement at mediation if such was reached,” it said.

People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett, a TD for Dún Laoghaire, said that “on the face of it, this looks like a significant victory for residents and a vindication of their campaign to stay in their homes”.

“(However), it has been shown that some tenants are vulnerable to manipulation by vulture funds and landlords,” he said.

“There are loopholes around ‘substantial refurbishments’ that need to be looked at, and I think the legislation needs to be strengthened.”

PwC and Deutsche Bank and Apollo all declined to comment.

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Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute Jane
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:38 AM

    Michael Noonan has a lot to answer for.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:51 AM

    @Jane: but he won’t ,he will just keep sucking

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    Mute James Doyle
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:30 AM

    @Jane: The vultures friend, and shame on Limerick for continually electing him knowing his anti Irish citizen tendencies. A disaster of a finance minister sold out state assets at fire sale prices, and was allowed do so by the F/G F/F fake government set up. What a parcel of rouges in a Nation.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:48 AM

    @James Doyle:
    And they are going up in the polls.

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    Mute James Doyle
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    Jan 27th 2018, 12:18 PM

    @P.J. Nolan: Yes, but there are none so blind as those who will not see through the artificial debt upon debt laden economic recovery, created by zero interest rates, and the printing by the Worlds major central banks of Trillions of various currencies out of thin air with no tangible assets to back it, only bank junk bonds. They can not continue with zero interest rates and printing fiat artificial money indefinitely markets have to find true value and when that happens the 2008 crash will seem like a walk in the park.

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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Jan 27th 2018, 12:49 PM

    @P.J. Nolan: They actually dropped 2 points on the latest poll, it was Leonard whose improvement rating went up. Crazy.

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    Mute Jane
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    Jan 27th 2018, 1:33 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: I think a lot of people were happy that he stood up for Ireland in the Brexit negotiations but it doesn’t mean people will vote for FG policies in general.

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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Jan 27th 2018, 1:58 PM

    @Jane: I think you are right Jane.

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:14 PM

    @Jane:
    Agreed

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:28 PM

    @Jane: Noonan, friend of the vulture funds is responsible for more people being made homeless, this excuse for a politician should be banged up in Mountjoy if there was any justice. A shady character.

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    Mute Ron
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:41 AM

    Revolution

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:52 AM

    @Ron: where do we meet up

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    Mute sixmile
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    Jan 27th 2018, 1:38 PM

    @FlopFlipU:

    meet me at the pillar son……….

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:29 PM

    @sixmile: wha?

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    Mute Willy Malone
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:19 AM

    Good auld Mickey and the blueshirts leaving some legacy….

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    Mute frank murphy
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:02 AM

    i do laugh at the term vulture fund… where is everyone pension invested? That’s right folks

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    Mute Cian O Donoghue
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:57 AM

    @frank murphy: True, most people with any form of pension is in one of these funds.

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    Mute Jane
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    Jan 27th 2018, 1:32 PM

    @frank murphy: that doesn’t make what they do right

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
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    Jan 27th 2018, 1:50 PM

    @frank murphy: Yeah most of us commoners don’t have pensions any more because we can’t afford them. Next you’ll be slagging us for not having a the maximum VHI level.

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    Mute Tony Dowling
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:50 PM

    @Neal Ireland Hello.: em, state pension neil, which is also incidentally tied up in an equity fund, or… vulture fund, if you want to be sensationalist about it.

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    Mute Dan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:36 AM

    They are some shower

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:01 AM

    It does appear that it is ‘only’ a technicality that they won on. I would assume that they could come back with a different letter which clearly showed why they must move out, I would imagine that this would be easy with health and safety. Something needs to be done to protect tenants from this type of eviction rather than having to relay on a technicality which was, from PwC’s perspective a bit of a screw up

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:23 AM

    @Nick Allen:
    My thoughts exactly, just putting off the inevitable although they were right to do it.
    Wouldn’t surprise me if they next need vacant possession to sell them for a healthy profit

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    Mute Nick Allen
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:41 AM

    @P.J. Nolan:

    I think the business model is to have long term rental income. In the article is said the guy was paying 900 a month in rent. I don’t know what the average rental is in Dublin but I would have thought it was closer to 1500. So a refurb to turn them into ‘luxury apartments in Dun Laoghaire would probably command north of 1500 a month

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:46 AM

    @Nick Allen:
    I agree, this is only a delay, (someone in PWC will get an earful!) and you are probably right about the business model, my point was if they were for some reason beaten on the refurbishment route, they will just sell them.

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 27th 2018, 1:25 PM

    I don’t know what they “won”

    Leave them stay there so and just kick off the refurbishment with them in situ. The rent can still be doubled or even more as soon as the refurb work is complete, assuming it meets the criteria.

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    Mute Anne Warren
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:23 PM

    @Nick Allen: Right enough but still – well done to the tenants and their legal advisors. They’ll be ready for the next challenge!
    Better to light a candle than curse the darkness!

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    Mute Dave O'Hanlon
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:57 AM

    Ooh they won’t like that, someone in the Dails going to get a telling off

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    Mute John Hazelnut
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:23 PM

    How did Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy respond to the 6,000 signature petition mentioned in the article? Did he do anything?

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:30 PM

    @John Hazelnut: have a guess…….

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    Mute Tony Dowling
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    Jan 27th 2018, 2:53 PM

    @John Hazelnut: reused as jacks roll. About the only use for it

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    Mute Dae Monicus
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    Jan 27th 2018, 12:23 PM

    I seem to remember a while back that it was mentioned in the dail that the lions share had been done, the only problem I had with that at the time was it wasn’t mentioned that generally, when the lions have had their share next up to pick the bones are the circling vultures.

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