The Residential Tenancies Board has been accused of promoting a “negative landlord-tenant narrative”, by a group representing landlords. 

The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) is unhappy that videos about tenants’ rights published by the RTB last year remain online. 

One video shows students informing their landlord that he cannot come into their home without notification - except in an emergency. 

Another shows the same landlord trying to evict the tenants with only a week’s notice, only to be informed that they are entitled to a written notice of termination and the minimum notice period required by law. 

“Glad I checked with the RTB,” one student says. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, IPOA spokesperson Mary Conway said the video is not an accurate portrayal of landlords and their interaction with tenants. 

 “We understand that tenants should know their rights and we understand that landlords should know their rights,” she said. 

“But we just think it's being portrayed in a very bad way; there's an absolute gombeen eejit of a landlord being portrayed.

“I work with a lot of landlords and I don't know anybody who's like that, I don't know where they got them from.

“It just really makes the whole thing a bit farcical.” 

A bunch of keys in a door lock. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Ms Conway added the biggest problem facing tenants is not illegal evictions but the Government’s rental reforms, which will cap rent rises nationwide at 2% for most properties. 

The IPOA believes the reforms will lead many landlords to sell up. 

“The focus at the moment should be on what's going through in Dáil Éireann and what's going to push more landlords out of the market and with less choice for tenants - whether they're students or anybody else,” she said. 

“Most landlords are professional landlords, they don't carry on in that way.” 

When asked if she believed the RTB has a negative attitude towards landlord, Ms Conway said many of the IPOA’s members feel so. 

“Well, landlords would say that when tribunals are happening,” she said. 

“What the focus really should be on is timelines with regards to disputes and getting timelines down and getting disputes sorted out quickly, to stop this negative landlord-tenant narrative that's going on with the RTB. 

“There needs to be fairness and there needs to be balance.” 

In a statement to Newstalk, the RTB said they had promised the IPOA they would "take their feedback into consideration". 

"A small number of social-first videos used light humour to make important rental issues relatable for a younger audience," a spokesperson said.

"However, the majority of videos and content developed for the campaign were informative and practical explainer videos, carousels and factsheets for both landlords and student tenants.

"The campaign delivered higher engagement and an 83% increase in traffic to our campaign landing page compared to previous student campaigns."

Main image: A landlord. Picture by: Alamy.com.