Residential Tenancies Act 2004

Chapter 3

Preliminary steps by Board (include power to refer matter to Tribunal)

Initial steps that may be taken by Board to resolve matters referred.

92.—(1) As soon as practicable after a dispute is referred to it, the Board may communicate with the parties for the purpose of—

(a) endeavouring to ensure that they are fully aware of the nature of the issue or issues the subject of the reference, and

(b) in cases where it considers the dispute is due to some basic misunderstanding of either or both of them as to the rights or obligations of landlords and tenants, achieving the objective mentioned in subsection (2).

(2) That objective is to have the issue or issues between the parties resolved by agreement between them without recourse being needed to the other procedures in this Part.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the communications by the Board under this section with the parties may, where it would be of assistance to the parties, include an indication by the Board, based on appropriate assumptions stated to the parties, of the typical outcome of issues of the kind concerned being determined under this Part.

(4) Any such indication shall be communicated by the Board as fully to one of the parties as the other or others and the Board, in its communications generally with the parties under this section, shall bear in mind the right of the parties to invoke all of the procedures under this Part that are available to them.