Tenancies board posts portrayed landlords as ‘unscrupulous’, claims representative group

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Social media posts by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) portrayed landlords in an “almost comical or farcical” light, a landlord group has complained.

The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA), a representative body for landlords, wrote a letter of complaint to the independent State agency in relation to social media videos it posted in September.

IPOA chairwoman Mary Conway said the posts portrayed landlords as “unscrupulous” in a letter to RTB director Rosemary Steen and released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.

Before the letter, the RTB had posted two informational videos on tenant rights. Both videos began with a sketch depicting a landlord opening the door to a residence before making a demand.

“Lads, I know you have been paying rent for the last seven months, but things have changed. I’m going to need you out in the next week,” the fictional landlord states at the beginning of one of these videos to two students. A figure in the background steps out to say: “Not so fast!” And then informs the viewer of Notices of Termination rights.

A similar video was posted one week earlier.

The IPOA said the tone of the videos risked “reinforcing an unnecessary us versus them narrative which is unhelpful for tenant-landlord relations, particularly at a time when the sector is already under significant strain”.

The videos, said Conway, portray landlords in a “highly unfavourable – almost comical or farcical – light, suggesting they are all, by definition, bad actors that tenants should be wary of, in contrast to the landlords’ adverts, which are factual information.

“While we understand the RTB’s intention is to inform tenants of their rights, this should not come at the expense of fairness … the RTB has a responsibility to ensure its communications are balanced towards landlords and tenants.”

Conway requested the videos be “reviewed and removed without delay”, and that future informational campaigns be developed with “consideration for both tenant and landlord rights”.

In response to the letter, Steen said the purpose of the campaign was to inform landlords and tenants about their rights and responsibilities under the law.

She said the campaign had used a “new approach to drive greater engagement with the campaign’s younger student audience” and had used “light humour to make important rental issues relatable for a younger audience” in some of the videos.

“This new approach delivered a significant increase in traffic to our campaign landing page this year,” she said, noting the RTB would take the feedback “into consideration when planning future campaigns”.

The same concerns were raised during a discussion between property owners and the RTB in October, records reveal. The videos remain on TikTok and Instagram.

The IPOA chairwoman said on Monday that the organisation was “taken aback” by the posts.

Conway said that landlords look to work collaboratively with the RTB, partly funding its operations through registration fees, but that the concerns raised were not taken seriously by the agency.

Responding to queries, an RTB spokesperson said the campaign used “light humour” in a small number of its social-first videos to make “important rental issues relatable for a younger audience”.