First Previous (Chapter 2.. Determination of Rent and Recovery of Overpayments.) Next (PART IV. Restrictions on Recovery of Possession of Controlled Premises.)

42 1960

RENT RESTRICTIONS ACT, 1960

PART III.

Special Provisions for Relief of Tenants of Small Controlled Dwellings.

Interpretation of Part III.

19. —(1) In this Part—

appointed area” means any area being—

(a) the area consisting of—

(i) the county borough of Dublin,

(ii) the borough of Dún Laoghaire, and

(iii) the parts of the Dublin Metropolitan District outside the area consisting of the county borough of Dublin and the borough of Dún Laoghaire,

(b) the county borough of Cork,

(c) the county borough of Limerick,

(d) the county borough of Waterford, or

(e) any area prescribed by regulations for the time being in force as an appointed area for the purposes of this Part;

court area” means—

(a) in a case in which the relevant dwelling is situate in the Dublin Metropolitan District—that District, and

(b) in any other case—the district court area in which the relevant dwelling is situate;

existing rent” means the rent payable by a tenant for a small controlled dwelling immediately prior to his making an application for a provisional order in respect of the dwelling;

provisional order” means an order under section 21 of this Act;

small controlled dwelling” means a controlled dwelling situate in an appointed area, being a dwelling to which Chapter 1 of Part II of the Act of 1946 applied and being—

(a) in case that area is prescribed by regulations, a dwelling the rateable valuation whereof does not exceed such amount (not being more than ten pounds) as may be prescribed, or

(b) in any other case, a dwelling the rateable valuation whereof does not exceed ten pounds.

(2) Any reference in this Part to the District Court Clerk shall, where there are two or more District Court Clerks for the court area concerned, be construed as a reference to any of those Clerks.

(3) Where it is provided in this Part that a District Justice is to cause a document to be served, it may be served in the same manner as a summons under the rules of the District Court for the time being in force.

Applications for provisional orders.

20. —(1) The tenant of a dwelling which he claims to be a small controlled dwelling may apply to the District Justice assigned to the district in which the dwelling is situate for a provisional order fixing the lawful rent of the dwelling.

(2) Every application under this section shall be made by the tenant attending, in person or by agent, the District Court Clerk of the court area in which the dwelling concerned is situate and furnishing particulars in support of his claim to the said District Court Clerk who shall record such particulars and refer the application as soon as may be to the appropriate District Justice.

(3) Any person who, in support of an application under this section, furnishes or causes to be furnished to the District Court Clerk particulars which are false or misleading in any material respect, shall, unless he proves that he acted innocently and without intent to deceive, be guilty of an offence and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(4) Where a person, not being a solicitor, acts as agent for any person on an application under this section directly or indirectly for or in expectation of reward or is remunerated directly or indirectly out of the funds of any body corporate or unincorporated body of persons of which the tenant is or was a member or to the funds of which he has been a subscriber, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, without prejudice to his liability to be convicted of any other offence of which he may be guilty, be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Making of provisional orders.

21. —(1) Where an application under section 20 of this Act is referred to a District Justice—

(a) the District Justice shall deal with the application privately unless a hearing in open court becomes appropriate in accordance with paragraph (e) of this subsection;

(b) the District Justice, unless it appears to him that the application should be refused, shall cause a notice to be served upon the landlord informing him that the application has been made, stating particulars of the application and requiring him to furnish within fourteen days after the service of the notice, to the District Court Clerk of the court area in which the dwelling concerned is situate, such information in the landlord's possession as might assist the Justice in making a provisional order determining the lawful rent of the dwelling;

(c) as soon as may be after the said information has been furnished or the expiration of the said fourteen days (whichever first occurs) and, if a reference under section 28 is made, after receipt of the report made on the reference, the District Justice shall, subject to paragraphs (d) and (e) of this subsection, proceed as follows:

(i) in case it appears to him—

(I) that the dwelling is a small controlled dwelling to which section 7 of this Act applies and the basic rent does not exceed, by an amount exceeding one-eighth of the basic rent, the rent which, if the dwelling were a dwelling to which section 9 of this Act applies, would, if “(being dwellings to which Chapter 1 of Part II of the Act of 1946 applied)” were contained in subsection (2) of the said section 9 after “controlled dwellings”, be determined by the Court as the basic rent thereof, or

(II) that the dwelling is a small controlled dwelling to which section 9 of this Act applies, the basic rent whereof has already been determined by the Court, and that the amount of that basic rent is ascertainable,

he may by order determine provisionally—

(A) the lawful additions to the basic rent of the dwelling, and

(B) the lawful rent of the dwelling;

(ii) in case it appears to him that the dwelling is a small controlled dwelling to which subparagraph (i) of this paragraph does not apply, he may by order determine provisionally—

(I) the basic rent of the dwelling under section 9 of this Act,

(II) the lawful additions to the basic rent of the dwelling, and

(III) the lawful rent of the dwelling;

(d) in case it appears to the District Justice that the lawful rent of the dwelling, if determined by a provisional order, would equal or exceed the existing rent, he shall dismiss the application and cause the tenant and the landlord to be informed of the dismissal and of the fact that the dismissal does not prejudice the right of either of them to apply to the Court under this Act, other than this Part, to have the rent determined;

(e) in case—

(i) the District Justice is not satisfied that he has jurisdiction to make a provisional order, or

(ii) the landlord has claimed an addition in respect of moneys alleged to have been expended on improvements, structural alterations or repairs and the District Justice is not satisfied that the landlord's claim should be allowed without formal evidence and without giving the tenant an opportunity to contest the claim,

the District Justice shall hear the application in open court and, for that purpose, shall cause the application to be listed for hearing, shall fix a date for the hearing and shall cause the landlord and tenant (who shall be entitled to appear and be represented at the hearing) to be notified accordingly;

(f) if the dwelling is not separately valued under the Valuation Acts and an apportionment in relation thereto has not already been made under section 41 of this Act, then, for the purposes of this Act, the District Justice may by order provisionally apportion to the premises such part as he thinks proper of the rateable valuation of the property in which the dwelling is comprised;

(g) if it appears to the District Justice that the rent of the dwelling includes payments for any of the matters referred to in paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 3 of this Act, he may by the provisional order (if made) apportion the rent for the purposes of this Act and, accordingly, references to “the Court” in that paragraph shall be construed as including references to the District Justice dealing with the application.

(2) An appeal shall not lie to the Circuit Court from the determination of a District Justice on an application under section 20 of this Act.

Provisions as to provisional orders.·

22. —(1) Where a District Justice makes a provisional order in relation to any dwelling, he shall as soon as may be cause a copy thereof to be served on the landlord and on the tenant.

(2) Subject to paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 23 and notwithstanding section 13 of this Act, the lawful rent fixed by a provisional order shall, as on and from the gale day next following the making of the order and for so long as the provisional order remains in force, be the rent to be paid for the dwelling to which the order applies.

(3) No proceedings shall be taken under Part II of this Act for the determination of the basic rent of any dwelling while a provisional order in respect thereof is in force or an application in respect thereof is pending under this Part.

Application by landlord or tenant in relation to provisional order.

23. —(1) The landlord or the tenant of any dwelling in respect of which a provisional order has been made may, within one month after the service of a copy of the provisional order upon him, apply to the District Court to revoke or modify the terms of the provisional order, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) if on the hearing of the application it appears to the Court that the dwelling is not a small controlled dwelling, the Court shall, subject to paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section, revoke the provisional order with effect retrospectively from the date of the making thereof;

(b) in any other case, the Court may, as it thinks proper—

(i) by order confirm the terms of the provisional order with or without modification, or

(ii) revoke the provisional order and make such new order in relation to the dwelling as the circumstances may require;

(c) if an order is made under paragraph (b) of this subsection, then, as and from the making thereof and notwithstanding anything in any other provision of this Act—

(i) the said order shall have effect as the final determination of the District Court in respect of the matters to which the said order relates,

(ii) the provisional order shall cease to be in force, and

(iii) for the purpose of the application of section 13 of this Act, the tenant shall be deemed to have entered into an agreement with the landlord to pay in respect of the dwelling a rent equal to the lawful rent of the dwelling as determined by the said order made under paragraph (b) of this subsection;

(d) on the hearing of the application the Court may make an order for the payment, in such manner as the Court may direct, of any amount due by either party to the other in relation to the dwelling, whether on account of rent or under any provision of this Act.

(2) Where, on the application under this section of a landlord, a provisional order is revoked or modified under subsection (1) of this section on the ground of information (in the form of evidence adduced by or on his behalf) which he refused or neglected to supply pursuant to a notice served on him under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 21 of this Act—

(a) the Court shall not give retrospective effect to the revocation or modification, as the case may be, of the order, and

(b) unless the Court for good cause orders otherwise, costs shall be awarded against the landlord and, if a valuer, who pursuant to section 28 of this Act made a report relating to the relevant dwelling, attended at the hearing of the application, the landlord shall be ordered to pay in respect of his attendance such fee as the Court may fix.

(3) The costs of the parties in an application under this section shall, subject to paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, be in the discretion of the Court, but no costs shall be awarded against the tenant in any case in which it is proved that the existing rent was higher than the lawful rent.

(4) If, on an appeal by the landlord to the Circuit Court against an order made by the District Court under this section, the Circuit Court certifies that having regard to all the circumstances of the case it is proper that the whole or a specified part of the amount for which the tenant is liable in respect of the costs of the appeal (including the tenant's own costs and the costs (if any) which, under the order of the Court, the tenant is liable to pay to the landlord) shall be defrayed out of State funds, the Minister shall defray out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas the amount of the costs in respect of which it has been so certified.

Provisions applicable in default of application by landlord or tenant.

24. —(1) Where a provisional order has been made and—

(a) the landlord has not, within one month after the date of service on him of a copy of the order, applied under subsection (1) of section 23 of this Act, and

(b) the tenant has not, within one month after the date of service on him of a copy of the order, applied under that subsection,

the following provisions shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any other provision of this Act:

(i) the terms of the provisional order shall be deemed to have been confirmed by the District Court by order under subsection (1) of section 23 of this Act and the provisions of paragraph (c) of that subsection shall apply accordingly;

(ii) an appeal shall not lie to the Circuit Court from a confirming order which is deemed to have been so made.

(2) As soon as may be after the provisions of subsection (1) of this section have taken effect in relation to any dwelling, the District Justice having jurisdiction for the purposes of this Act in the district in which the dwelling is situate shall cause to be served on the landlord and on the tenant a notice, in the prescribed form, informing such persons thereof accordingly, but failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall not be construed as affecting the operation of the said subsection (1).

Exemption from Court fees.

25. —No court fees shall be payable by the tenant in any proceedings (including any appeal or case stated) under this Part.

Review on grounds of fraud surprise, mistake or disability.

26. —(1) Where, under paragraph (i) of subsection (1) of section 24 of this Act, the terms of a provisional order are deemed to have been confirmed, the landlord or the tenant may at any time apply to the Court for a review of the case on the grounds of fraud, surprise, mistake or disability.

(2) Where, on an application under this section, the Court is satisfied that any ground on which the application is made existed, the Court may make such new and further orders as justice may require, including any order awarding costs which the Court considers proper.

(3) An order under subsection (2) of this section may modify or terminate the effect of any previous order made in the case and, where fraud is proved, may be retrospective.

District court valuers.

27. —(1) The Minister may, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, appoint such and so many persons as he thinks fit to be district court valuers for the purposes of this Part.

(2) Every district court valuer shall hold office at the will of the Minister and may be removed from office by the Minister.

(3) The remuneration and conditions of employment generally of district court valuers shall be determined by the Minister for Finance.

(4) Every district court valuer shall be assigned to such district as the Minister shall from time to time direct.

(5) Neither the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 , nor the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 , shall apply to the situation of district court valuer.

Reference by District Justices of questions affecting rateable valuation or rent of small controlled dwellings to valuers.

28. —(1) The District Justice assigned to a district to which a district court valuer is assigned may refer to such district court valuer for investigation and report to him any question affecting the rateable valuation or rent of a small controlled dwelling the subject of any proceedings before him under this Part or involving the rent being paid or payable for other small controlled dwellings.

(2) The District Justice assigned to a district to which a district court valuer is not assigned may refer to such person (in this section referred to as a special valuer) as he thinks fit for investigation and report to him any question affecting the rateable valuation or rent of any small controlled dwelling the subject of proceedings before him under this Part or involving the rent being paid or payable for other small controlled dwellings.

(3) Where a report is made on a reference under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section in relation to proceedings under this Part—

(a) the landlord and the tenant of the relevant controlled dwelling shall, on application to the district court office, be entitled to obtain copies of the report, and

(b) the District Justice may, and shall on a bona fide request by such landlord or tenant, require the valuer to attend the proceedings.

(4) Special valuers shall be remunerated by the Minister at such rates as may be prescribed by the Minister for Finance.

(5) A district court valuer or a special valuer to whom a District Justice has referred any question under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section may, if authorised in writing by the District Justice so to do, and on production, if demanded, of such authorisation, at all reasonable hours enter and inspect any dwelling specified in that behalf in such authorisation.

(6) If any person refuses to permit a district court valuer or a special valuer to enter or inspect any premises in exercise of his powers under subsection (5) of this section, or obstructs or interferes with him in the exercise of those powers, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or a fine not exceeding ten pounds or both such imprisonment and such fine.