Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the efforts made to ensure that first time landlords are aware of their obligations to register with the Private Residential Tenancies Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54039/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 applies to every residential dwelling that is the subject of a tenancy and that does not fall within any of the exemption categories set out in Section 3 of the Act. Section 134 of the Act places a legal obligation on the landlords of such dwellings to apply to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) to register the tenancies and such application is to be made within one month from the commencement of the tenancy.

While I have no function in the operational matters of the PRTB, an independent statutory body under the Act, I understand that the Board is active in developing awareness among landlords of the requirement to register tenancies. I understand that the PRTB website contains material on this issue and that the PRTB also advertises this obligation in relevant printed and online publications. I am also advised that the PRTB has issued more than 30,000 information letters to landlords to date in 2012 regarding their legal obligation under the Act to apply to register tenancies. In addition the PRTB has issued more than 8,000 formal letters of notice to landlords who did not apply to register, despite these reminders.