A WOMAN has been directed to pay over €17,000 to her former landlord after failing to pay rent on a Carlow property for over 16 months.
The tenant, Queen Alowja Olusolamajar, also known as Queen Alowja, Queen Alowaja or Queen Alomaja, had been living in the property at Quinagh Green, Black Bog Road, Carlow since 2009 or 2010. She was a recipient of Carlow Co Council’s Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and paid a monthly rent to the council, which then paid the landlord the full rent of €1,029.
However, she fell into arrears amounting to €3,712 with the council and it terminated the RAS agreement in September 2024.
The landlords, John and Kathleen Hosey, took over management of the property three months before that, in June 2024. When the council stopped paying them rent in September, they issued Ms Olusolamajar with a warning letter on 3 October 2024 and subsequently a termination notice on 8 November 2024.
The landlords did not receive any rent from Ms Olusolamajar from September 2024 to 19 January 2026. This amounted to €17,196.65 in rental arrears.
The tenant’s evidence to the Residential Tenancies Board tribunal on 19 January 2026 was that she was paying off her arrears to the council and at the time of the hearing had €300 left to pay. She acknowledged she had not paid any rent to the landlord and said she did not have means to pay the rent.
The RTB found that a notice of termination served on her was valid and directed Ms Olusolamajar to leave the house within 28 days and pay the rental arrears in 18 monthly installments.
