Landlord ordered to pay €20,000 to tenant over refusal to accept HAP and threats to evict

Seán McCárthaigh

A landlord has been ordered to pay compensation of €20,000 after threatening his tenant with eviction when asked to accept a Housing Assistance Payment towards the rent.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the landlord, Muhammad Naeem Aslam, had breached the Equal Status Act 2000, discriminating against Ayodeji Saanu by refusing to accept a HAP payment as well as victimising him over the same issue.

However, the WRC rejected a claim by Mr Saanu that he had also been harassed by his landlord.

The landlord did not attend a WRC meeting of the case held in August 2025, despite being on notice of the hearing.

Mr Saanu gave evidence that he asked Mr Aslam to fill out a form to obtain the HAP in December 2023, but was refused.

He told the WRC that he did not pursue the matter at the time as he felt vulnerable as a tenant.

However, Mr Saanu again wrote to his landlord on October 1st, 2024, to sign the HAP form as he was scheduled to undergo surgery the following week and would not have any income as a result to pay the rent from his own pocket.

At the time, he was paying a monthly rent of €2,100 for a two-bed apartment.

Although the tenant was eligible for the HAP, he claimed Mr Aslam replied that he did not accept the payment and threatened him with eviction if he persisted with it, as well as arranging for an inspection of the property

Mr Saanu said he had pointed out to the landlord that it was discriminatory and unlawful to refuse a HAP.

On October 6th, 2024, he said he received a threatening message that his tenancy would be ended and he and his family would be ejected from the property when he had pleaded with the landlord to accept HAP.

When notified of the complaint to the WRC, Mr Sannu said the landlord had replied that his solicitor would take care of the matter.

He again reminded Mr Aslam that it was unlawful to threaten a family with the risk of homelessness just because of a legitimate request to sign a HAP form.

Mr Saanu told the WRC that he was then given 28 days’ notice to vacate the apartment, although he was legally entitled to 152 days of notice.

He claimed the landlord replied that he was “adept at this sort of thing” and knew how to deal with such tenants when informed of his longer notice period.

Mr Saanu said he subsequently received a message via WhatsApp from the landlord stating he needed the apartment for himself.

The WRC heard there were also difficulties in Mr Aslam providing a postal address for correspondence.

Mr Saanu said he and his wife felt threatened by the landlord’s behaviour.

He told the WRC that he had to return to work earlier than he was fit to after his surgery and got an infection because of his landlord’s refusal to accept the HAP.

Mr Saanu said he was also still under notice of eviction.

WRC adjudication officer, Louise Boyle, said the landlord’s arrangement of an inspection of the apartment was “clearly an extraordinary response” to the tenant’s complaint.

Ms Boyle said Mr Saanu had given a credible account, which had been supported by correspondence with the landlord.

She ordered Mr Aslam to pay his tenant €12,000 in compensation for discriminating against him over his refusal to accept a HAP payment.

The WRC also awarded Mr Saanu a further €8,000 over related victimisation by the landlord.