Not every case is a horror story. This is the clean version — proper notice, properly run tribunal, full award including damages on top of arrears. The case we benchmark our service against.
This case was not handled by shelter.ie. Facts below are sourced from Irish Times reporting of the underlying RTB tribunal determination, March 2026. Both the tenants and the landlords are named in the public determination order. The "What shelter.ie's playbook would have been" section is our analysis.
In March 2026, the Residential Tenancies Board tribunal determined a case involving tenants Chloe Crawford and David Ward and landlords Lorraine and John Ryan. The tribunal directed Crawford and Ward to pay the Ryans:
The case is, on the press coverage, a relatively clean RTB matter: arrears that built up over a defined period, breach of additional tenant obligations during the tenancy (the specific breaches not detailed in the press article), proper notice served, tribunal hearing held, determination issued. Both parties were named in the public record.
This is the type of case the RTB system was designed to handle, and it's the type of case that — when run properly — delivers the right outcome on a reasonable timeline.
Source: Irish Times coverage of the RTB tribunal determination, March 2026. (Direct article URL: TBC at content build — citation pending re-check.)
Two distinct legal claims combined in this single tribunal hearing, both supported by Irish residential tenancy law:
1. Rent arrears claim under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 — the historic unpaid rent figure, calculated on the lease's contractual rate.
2. Damages for breach of tenant obligations under section 16 of the Act — additional financial damages awarded when the tenant has breached statutory or contractual obligations during the tenancy. This typically covers things like property damage beyond fair wear and tear, anti-social behaviour falling short of grounds for accelerated termination, or persistent breach of tenancy conditions.
The €2,500 damages award on top of the €3,150 arrears is structurally interesting because it shows the RTB exercising its full statutory toolkit in a single determination. Many landlords running cases without representation focus only on the arrears figure and miss the damages claim — leaving real money on the table that the tribunal would have awarded if asked.
What this case delivered for the Ryans (estimated, with our typical fees overlaid):
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Arrears recovered (subject to enforcement) | €3,150 |
| Damages awarded | €2,500 |
| Total tribunal award | €5,650 |
| Estimated shelter.ie fee if engaged | €2,000 (RTB Acceleration Pack) |
| Net to landlord before enforcement costs | €3,650 |
The net figure of €3,650 illustrates the realistic delta between hiring a productised service and running the case alone. A landlord running this case alone might have:
The shelter.ie fee of €2,000 effectively "buys" the damages claim that DIY landlords typically miss, AND the procedural certainty, AND the time that would otherwise be spent learning the system. The net to landlord is positive even before considering the time saved.
The Crawford & Ward case is the median case our RTB Acceleration Pack is designed to run. There's no cautionary lesson here, no tactical complication. There's just the procedurally-correct version of standard tenancy enforcement.
Step 1 — Initial case review. Tenancy file, arrears ledger, evidence of any tenant-obligation breaches (photographs, communications, witness statements). 60-minute call to assess scope.
Step 2 — Notice of Termination drafted on dual grounds. Where breach of obligations is documentable alongside arrears, the notice covers both grounds. This isn't always strategically right (sometimes a clean arrears notice is faster), but in cases where breach evidence is solid, dual grounds strengthen the eventual award.
Step 3 — RTB application with full evidence bundle. Arrears ledger, tenancy agreement, registration certificate, photographs of any breach-related property condition, communications log, and an explicit damages claim figure with supporting calculations.
Step 4 — Adjudication advocacy. Our advocate presents the case to the RTB adjudicator. The damages claim is articulated explicitly — not buried in the application or assumed.
Step 5 — Tribunal advocacy if the case escalates. Either party can appeal an adjudication; the case then goes to tribunal. Same advocate, same evidence bundle, same damages claim. Tribunal advocacy is included in the €2,000 fee.
Step 6 — Post-determination support. Once the determination order issues, we brief the landlord on enforcement options (judgment mortgage if Crawford or Ward owns property; instalment order if they have employment income; debt collector partnership for commercial pressure). The mechanical enforcement is the next phase.
Realistic timeline: 6–10 months from engagement to determination, depending on the RTB queue. Vacant possession typically secured during the process; the financial recovery happens after.
The Crawford & Ward case is the case we point to when prospective clients ask "what does it look like when this works?" Most of the cases on this site illustrate something dramatic — Hoxha's lock-change, the murder threats, the elite-status pseudo-legal claim, the 17-month overholding wait. Crawford & Ward illustrates the unremarkable case, which is the case most landlords actually face: tenants who fall into arrears, breach some obligations along the way, get notice, end up at tribunal, get a determination, leave.
When the case is run properly, the landlord recovers historic arrears, picks up damages on top, and is in a position to pursue further enforcement if needed. When the case is run badly, the landlord gets the arrears figure (maybe), spends six unnecessary months in the queue, misses the damages claim, and walks away with less.
Productisation is mostly about consistency. Every Crawford & Ward case we run gets the same template, the same dual-grounds analysis, the same damages-claim discipline. We don't make landlord-specific decisions about whether to bother with the damages claim — we run it every time, as a default. That's the value.
If your case is more like Crawford & Ward than like Hoxha — standard arrears, some breach issues, no threats, no pseudo-legal theatre — congratulations, you're in the easiest category to handle and the one where productisation pays off most reliably. The €2,000 fee is well below what a property-law solicitor would charge for the same case hourly, the timeline is the RTB's normal pace, and the outcome typically lands cleanly.
Book a 15-minute consult → and we'll confirm whether your case fits the standard playbook. Most do.
Free 15-minute consult. We'll tell you which pack fits — or that none of them does.
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