Waterford landlord who allegedly found urine throughout home ordered to pay back deposit
The dispute involved the renting of a house in Dunmore East, County Waterford
A Waterford landlord who retained a tenant’s €1,500 security deposit after allegedly finding evidence of urine throughout the property has been ordered by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to return the entire amount.
The dispute involved landlord Paschal Bergin and tenant David Hobbs, who began renting a house at 42 Bayview, Killea Road in Dunmore East for €1,500 per month in September 2024.
When Mr Hobbs moved out in June 2025 and Mr Bergin inspected the property, the landlord told an RTB tribunal that he was “disgusted” by the condition of the dwelling, alleging that the tenant had “just walked out without doing any cleaning”.
He claimed that there was dog hair and urine throughout the home, and said it had taken his wife two weeks to clean the property because it would have cost €800 commercially.
Mr Bergin said he had to pay €90 to repair a bedroom door that looked like it had been pried open, as well as €300 to replace a stained mat, and €200 to steam-clean beds and soft furnishings.
Mr Hobbs told the tribunal that the dwelling had been dirty when he moved in and he had also encountered a number of other issues. He said Mr Bergin had “reluctantly replaced” a broken washing machine after sending a “nasty text message”.
The tenant also claimed that he had been left without heat in December 2024, and had issues with a leak in the kitchen sink, which he alleged that the landlord had told him to fix himself.
Mr Hobbs told the tribunal that he had hired a cleaner to carry out a deep clean before vacating the property, and claimed that he had left the house in “immaculate condition”.
He explained that he had been involved in a serious car accident the day after leaving, and had sent the landlord a message stating that the keys to the property had been left under a mat.
Mr Bergin told the tribunal that he did not reply to the text message because he was “disgusted” by the condition of the dwelling. After receiving a follow-up text a week later, Mr Bergin refused to return the deposit, alleging damage.
Rejecting the claims, Mr Hobbs said his dog was a small, house-trained Jack Russell, and that the bedroom door was already broken when he moved in. He knew nothing about damage to a table, and the mat had been put away safely.
Mr Hobbs’s partner, Orla McBride, gave evidence that the home had been let in an unsuitable condition and had required a deep clean when they moved in, and issues with the property had caused significant stress when they were expecting their first child.
In its findings, the RTB tribunal noted that the onus to prove justification for retaining a deposit was on the landlord. It said no photographs had been submitted showing the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy.
Claims of deterioration could therefore not be substantiated and there were no receipts to prove repair costs, and no evidence was provided to support a claim that Mr Hobbs had agreed to refill the oil tank.
Determining that the landlord had been unjustified in retaining the funds, the tribunal directed Mr Bergin to pay €1,500 to Mr Hobbs within 21 days.