Natalia had rented a small apartment in Limerick for two years. When her tenancy ended in March, she gave proper notice and handed back the keys in good condition. But two months passed with no word from her landlord about her deposit. No explanation. No contact. Nothing. She sent emails and texts. No reply. Her money — nearly €1,200 — was sitting somewhere, held by someone, and nobody was talking about it.
She knew something was wrong. A deposit should be returned quickly, or if there's a dispute about damage or cleaning, the landlord should explain it. Natalia decided to file a claim with the Residential Tenancies Board. That's when things moved fast. The RTB found that the landlord had breached the law by holding the deposit without proper justification. Because the delay stretched on for two months without any explanation or attempt to resolve the issue, the board added interest on the deposit and awarded compensation for the illegal retention.
Within weeks of the RTB decision, Natalia received her full deposit plus the added compensation. The landlord had to pay, not because the flat was damaged — it wasn't — but because they'd broken the rules about how deposits must be handled. The message was clear: a deposit is the tenant's money, and it must be treated that way.