Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015

Amendment of section 135 of Principal Act

60. Section 135 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) Where—

(a) a further Part 4 tenancy comes into being, and

(b) pursuant to subsection (1)(c), such further Part 4 tenancy is required to be registered,

the requirement under section 134(3A) that such registration be accompanied by the deposit referred to in section 135A or the notice referred to in section 135A(2) shall be satisfied if—

(i) the deposit that, in accordance with section 134(3A), accompanied the registration of the tenancy under section 134, has not been returned to either or both parties and remains in the designated tenancy deposit account,

(ii) the deposit that, in accordance with section 148P, was transmitted to the Board, has not been returned to either or both parties and remains in the designated tenancy deposit account,

(iii) a notice referred to in section 135A accompanied, in accordance with section 134(3A), the registration of the tenancy under section 134, and subsequent to the furnishing of that notice to the Board, the tenant has not paid a deposit referred to in section 12(1)(d) to the landlord, or

(iv) a notice referred to in section 148P(2) was sent to the Board and subsequent to the furnishing of that notice to the Board the tenant has not paid a deposit referred to in section 12(1)(d) to the landlord.”,

(b) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) An acknowledgement, in the prescribed form, shall be given to the applicant under section 134 and to the tenant and shall—

(a) acknowledge the receipt by the Board of the application under section 134,

(b) acknowledge the receipt by the Board of a fee referred to in subsection (3) of that section,

(c) acknowledge the receipt by the Board of a deposit referred to in section 135A and the amount of that deposit, or a notice referred to in section 135A,

(d) specify the reference number, referred to in subsection (3), assigned by the Board in respect of the tenancy concerned, and

(e) include a statement setting out—

(i) a summary of the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords under this Act and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the statement shall set out a summary of the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords in relation to—

(I) the setting of rent under section 19, a review of rent under section 20 and the notification of a new rent under section 22,

(II) security of tenure under Part 4, and

(III) the termination of tenancies under Parts 4 and 5,

(ii) the matters which may be referred to the Board for resolution under Part 6 and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the statement shall specify that—

(I) a complaint may be referred to the Board under section 78(1)(b) in respect of the amount of rent that ought to be initially set in compliance with section 19, and

(II) a complaint may be referred to the Board under section 78(1)(c) in respect of the amount of rent determined on foot of a review of rent,

(iii) the redress that may be granted by the Board and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the statement shall specify the maximum amount of damages that may be paid to a party to a dispute pursuant to section 115(3), and

(iv) the function of the Board, referred to in section 147A, to disclose to the Revenue Commissioners information contained in the register referred to in that section.”,

(c) by inserting the following subsections after subsection (4):

“(4A) An acknowledgement referred to in subsection (4) shall specify—

(a) the procedures for the return of the deposit and the requirement on the parties under this Act and the conditions, in respect of such return, referred to in section 12(4),

(b) the obligations on the parties referred to in sections 12(1)(d)(ii), 16(o) and 148A,

(c) that, without prejudice to paragraph (b) and the obligation on the parties under sections 12(1)(d)(ii)(III) and 16(o)(iii), all notifications relating to the return of the deposit referred to in section 12(1)(d) will be sent to the most recent address provided to the Board by each party, and

(d) that any interest that accrues on the deposit held by the Board will be retained by the Board in accordance with this Act.

(4B) Where an application under section 134 is received by the Board and is not accompanied by the deposit, or statement, referred to in section 135A(2), without prejudice to subsections (4) and (5), the Board shall, as soon as practicable, notify the parties in writing of the omission concerned and request the landlord to transmit such deposit or provide such statement not later than 14 days from the receipt of the notice under this subsection.

(4C) The notification in writing under subsection (4B) shall be in the prescribed form.”,

(d) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (5):

“(5) Where an application, other than an application referred to in subsection (6), under section 134 is received by the Board and the application is—

(a) incomplete, or

(b) not accompanied by—

(i) the fee referred to in section 134(3)(b)(i) or as the case may be section 134(3)(b)(ii), or

(ii) the fee referred to in section 134(3)(c), where that fee is required to be paid,

the Board shall notify the applicant of the omission concerned and specify a date by which the application is to be completed or the fee is to be paid.”,

and

(e) inserting the following subsections after subsection (5):

“(6) Where—

(a) an application under section 134 received by the Board is incomplete, and

(b) the Board, having regard to—

(i) the information provided with that application, and

(ii) the information required to be contained in the register pursuant to section 127(3),

is satisfied that the information provided with the application, is sufficient to effect the registration of the tenancy concerned,

the Board, having regard to the proper discharge by it of its functions under this Act and where in its opinion it is appropriate, may, subject to subsection (7), treat the application as complete for the purposes of this Part and register the tenancy concerned.

(7) Subsection (6) shall not apply where the deposit, or the statement, referred to in section 134(3A), have not accompanied the application under section 134.

(8) Where an application referred to in subsection (6) is received by the Board before the coming into operation of subsection (6), and has not been determined before such coming into operation, subsection (6) shall apply to such application.”.