RTB Hearings Are Now Public — and Your Name and Address Go Online

A dispute with a tenant used to be a private matter between the two of you and the RTB. For applications made from 14 September 2026, adjudication hearings are held in public — and the outcome is published online with the names of the parties and the address of the property.

What is actually changing

• Adjudication hearings are now open to the public.
• The RTB publishes a weekly schedule of hearings in advance.
• Full reports go online afterwards, including the names of the parties, the property address, the evidence considered and the outcome.

This applies to applications made on or after 14 September 2026. Cases already in the system under the old arrangement are not swept into it.

The principle is open justice, and it is not unreasonable. The practical effect for a landlord is that a rent arrears case now leaves a permanent, searchable record attached to a property address.

Why this matters more than it sounds

Consider what a published report means in practice. A future tenant searching the address finds it. So does a neighbour, a purchaser doing diligence, or anyone curious about who owns what. The same is true in reverse — a landlord can search a prospective tenant — but the asymmetry is that a property address is fixed and public in a way a person’s name is not.

None of this makes a legitimate case less worth bringing. It does change the calculation on marginal ones, and it puts a price on getting the paperwork wrong that did not exist before: a case lost on a defective notice is now a case lost in public.

Mediation stays confidential

This is the part most landlords do not know and the most useful thing in this article. The RTB offers mediation as well as adjudication, and mediation remains private. No public hearing, no published report, no names.

It is also usually faster, and it tends to produce agreements that survive, because both parties built them rather than had one imposed. For the disputes that make up most of the caseload — arrears that can be structured into a payment plan, a deposit disagreement, a maintenance dispute that has become personal — mediation was often the better route already. It now has a second, significant advantage.

How to stay out of both

1. Deal with arrears in week one, not month three. A conversation after the first missed payment resolves most of them. Three months of silence resolves none.
2. Put everything in writing. Not to build a case, but because most disputes turn on what each side believed was agreed.
3. Get the paperwork right at the start. A registered tenancy, a correctly protected deposit, a clear inventory and a properly served notice remove most of the grounds a dispute can stand on.
4. Inspect regularly. A problem found at a quarterly inspection is a repair. Found at the end of a tenancy, it is a deposit dispute.

Common questions

Will my name really be published?

The published reports include the names of the parties and the property address for adjudication cases from 14 September 2026 onwards.

Can I ask for a hearing to be held in private?

Rarely. The RTB has said it may agree to hold an adjudication or tribunal hearing in private in very limited and exceptional cases. Treat that as the exception it is, not as a route you can rely on.

Is mediation binding?

A mediated agreement is recorded by the RTB and, once it takes effect, carries weight rather than being an informal understanding. Ask the mediator to talk you through exactly what you are signing up to before you agree terms — the appeal of mediation is that you shape the outcome, and that only works if you understand it.

How long does a dispute take now?

Faster than before — tribunal hearing notice has been cut from 21 calendar days to 10 working days, and the mediation appeal window standardised at 10 working days, both aimed at shortening the overall timeline.

Most disputes are prevented, not won

Correct registration, protected deposits, documented inspections and notices served properly are what keep a tenancy out of the RTB entirely — and they are what we do. Talk to us about managing your property.

General information for Dublin landlords, current at the date above. Not legal advice.