Tenant who hired private investigator to surveil home after eviction notice awarded damages

A tenant who hired a private investigator to ascertain whether a property in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, was being used by his former landlords’ daughter, as claimed in an eviction notice, has been awarded damages.

A Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal heard a private investigator surveilled the property for a two-month period and attempted to “make deliveries” to the home.

He was hired by tenant Sean Murray who, alongside Aisling Judge, had received a notice of termination from their landlords, claiming the home on Anglesea Road was required for their daughter.

Their landlords, Sinead Ryan and Niall Bleahen, did not attend the tribunal hearing.

Murray, who said the notice of termination was received a week after CAO offers were issued last year, said they were told the landlords’ daughter required the property due to its proximity to University College Dublin.

He subsequently googled the landlords’ daughter, telling the tribunal she had completed her Leaving Certificate some 10 years prior, and had graduated from college before starting a job around the time the notice was issued, according to her LinkedIn page.

Murray told the tribunal he hired a private investigator after they moved out, and this work showed “no one” living at the property, beyond someone being there for “one or two days”.

He said the private investigator had tried to make deliveries to the house over a two-month period, but that no one had answered the door.

A few days after their RTB dispute was lodged, Murray said they noticed the “lights came on and a car was there”. He argued he had “strong grounds to believe” the notice was issued on “false grounds”.

Asked whether the property had been occupied after the termination date in February, Murray said they were not “closely watching” the home, but that someone was there “more recently”.

James Boyle, who told the tribunal he was a licensed private investigator, said Murray and Judge appeared “hurt by the way they were treated”.

Over October and November last year, he said he checked the property “about 30 times” and, except for two days when a car was parked outside and the lights were on, he could not determine “any other occupancy”.

Asked whether he had noted anything since, he said the “job had finished” in November and he had not been paying attention since, though he added he “may have seen lights on since”.

Murray, who said they were seeking compensation for moving costs and an “acknowledgment of the difficulty” the termination caused them, told the tribunal it added “stress and disruption” at an “already difficult time”.

Murray said the pair left within about two weeks of receiving the notice of termination in September 2025, noting it had been planned that Judge’s father would live with them for a period while he underwent treatment for cancer.

The tenants had received the eviction notice shortly after a change in management company, which they said attempted to impose a change in rules regarding their 11-year-old dog.

The pair had written permission to keep the small terrier, the tenants said, and objected to the letting agent’s attempt to withdraw that permission on behalf of the new management company, according to a tribunal report published Friday.

Noting that Ryan and Bleahen chose not to attend the hearing, the tribunal said there was “no evidence” to say their daughter ever occupied the property.

The tribunal said it must find there was an “ulterior motivation” behind the service of the eviction notice, noting the correspondence regarding the dog was dated “very shortly” before the notice was received.

The tribunal ordered Ryan and Bleahen to pay €837.90 to their former tenants, which covered moving costs, and €500 in damages.