28 landlords who handed their tenants illegal rent hikes have been forced to pay back a quarter of a million euro.
It's after a Residential Tenancies Board enforcement operation targeting breaches of the Rent Pressure Zone rules.
It's the first time such cases have been handled by the Circuit Court -- and the first time landlords have been "named and shamed" on the RTB's website.
Labour Party housing spokesperson Senator Rebeca Moynihan says it's only a fraction of the true problem, because tenants are afraid to complain:
"Absolutely the tip of the iceberg. 29 cases out of 100,000s of renters is just the tip of the iceberg. We already know from the IRTB Report and the DAFT report recently published, that we're over 7% rental inflation. Rents have gone up since last year and this year. So that is a really, really small amount. Unfortunately, the balance of power is with landlords."
