The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has found in favour of a man who challenged a letting agency for the discrimination he faced as a recipient of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission provided the man with legal representation in taking his case.
The 32 year old father, who moved to Dublin to secure work, had viewed the rental property, agreed a tenancy, signed the agreement and paid a deposit. Then while finalising the rental he disclosed that he was using the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) only to be chastised by the letting agent for not disclosing this sooner as the landlord did not like HAP. Subsequently he was informed by the agent that the landlord had rented the property to someone else.
The man shared custody of his then 2 year old daughter, and having his own place was a priority to allow him have his daughter stay with him. As a direct consequence of walking into the premises in April 2019, and experiencing an outright rejection of his agreed tenancy, the WRC heard that he experienced emotional trauma, which caused him to leave his job, suffer increased anxiety, move home and completely withdraw from the world. His recovery from this has taken a considerable period.
The WRC ruling noted that the letting agent had not engaged with the WRC investigation process, noting that this amounted to “staggering disrespect for a statutory Tribunal.”
The WRC found that the man had been discriminated against on the grounds of Housing assistance, and that the discrimination had an enduring and detrimental effect on his personal life which is contrary to the intention of the HAP scheme. Housing assistance as a grounds for discrimination was introduced in 2016.
The WRC ordered that the letting agent pay compensation of €8,500 to the man. It also ordered the agency to immediately equality-proof the application process for its tenancies, to include a standard operating procedure with a chronological documentation of the process to record both parties involvement in the entire process. The letting agent was finally ordered to familiarise themselves with HAP and the statutory importance of the Equal Status Act.
Click here for the decision.