RTB evidence: what to bring and how to present it

An RTB adjudicator or tribunal decides on the evidence the parties put in front of them, and nothing else. The tenant who sends a dated, ordered bundle of documents, and brings the same bundle to the hearing, is the tenant the adjudicator can follow. The tenant with a phone full of photographs and a story is not.

The good news is that the evidence a tenant needs is nearly always evidence they already have. The agreement, the rent record, the messages, the photographs and the receipts are in your email, your bank app and your camera roll. The work is sorting them into order, naming them, and sending them to the RTB in advance.

Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, before you assemble the bundle. The advisers will tell you which documents carry the case and which to leave out. You do not need a solicitor; the RTB process is built for self-representation, and a clear bundle is what makes it work.

What the adjudicator is looking for

Every dispute comes down to a few questions. What did the two of you agree? What did each of you do, and when? What does the Act say about it? What loss follows? The adjudicator wants documents that answer those questions in order, and they prefer a document to a memory.

For a deposit dispute: the deposit paid, the condition of the home at the start and at the end, the deductions claimed, and whether they are lawful. For a notice dispute: the notice itself, the date and the way it reached you, how long you had been in the tenancy, and whether the RTB got its copy. For a repair dispute: what was wrong, when you reported it, what the landlord did, and what it cost you. For a lock-out: the date, the way it happened, who saw it, and the receipts for where you stayed and what you lost.

Write a one-page statement that tells the story in dated paragraphs and points to each document by its number. The statement is the map; the documents are the territory.

The documents, in the order to send them

Put the statement first, then the documents in date order, each with a number and a short name. A clear name is "03 2026-02-14 tenancy agreement" rather than "scan.pdf".

The tenancy agreement, or if there is none, whatever shows the terms: the advert, the first email, the first rent transfer. A tenancy without a written agreement is still a tenancy, and the Act fills the gaps.

Proof of the rent paid. The rent book if you have one, or the bank statements showing each payment. You are entitled to a rent book or an equivalent record under the 1993 Regulations, and the rent book guide explains what it should show.

Proof of the deposit. The receipt, the bank transfer, or the message confirming it. If the deposit was cash with no receipt, the first rent transfer and the agreement's deposit clause are the next best thing.

The notice, if the dispute is about one, with the envelope or the email it came in and a note of the day it reached you. Run it through the notice checker and keep the result with the notice; it lists each requirement of s.62 against your answers.

The correspondence. Every letter, email, text and WhatsApp message between you and the landlord or agent, exported or screenshotted so the date, the time and the sender are visible, in date order, not trimmed. The thread is often the whole case: it shows what you asked for, when, and what was said back.

Photographs and video, with dates. The move-in photographs from the move-in checklist, the move-out photographs, the photographs of the fault or the damage. A photograph with no date is worth less; most phones keep the date in the file, and a screenshot of the photo's details shows it.

Receipts for any loss you are claiming: the hotel after a lock-out, the heater bought when the boiler failed, the repair you paid for, the locksmith. The RTB compensates proven loss, so the receipt is the claim. RTB damages: what is actually awarded explains why.

Reports from others. A local authority inspection report, a tradesperson's quote or invoice, a Garda incident reference, a doctor's letter where a health effect is part of a claimed loss.

Witnesses

A person who saw the thing you describe can attend the hearing and speak to it. A flatmate who was there when the locks were changed. A neighbour who saw the agent enter without notice. A tradesperson who inspected the boiler. Tell the RTB in advance who is coming and what they will speak to, and tell the witness to answer the questions asked and no more.

A witness who cannot attend can give a short signed and dated statement, but an adjudicator gives it less weight because the other side cannot ask them anything. Where the witness matters, ask for a hearing date they can make.

The evidence rules

Send everything to the RTB by the date in the RTB's letter, and in the format it asks for. The RTB copies your evidence to the landlord, and the landlord's to you, so each side can respond before the hearing. That is the rule that makes the hearing fair, and it is why material produced on the day may be refused or may force an adjournment.

Read the landlord's bundle as carefully as your own. Where their document contradicts yours, be ready to say which is right and why. Where they rely on a message you also have, check that their version is complete.

Bring two printed copies of your bundle to an in-person hearing, or have the files open and named for a video hearing. Have the dates ready. The adjudicator will ask when, and "it was in March, I think" is the answer that loses a point you had.

What not to send

Leave out anything that does not go to the questions the adjudicator has to answer. A recording the landlord did not know was being made. The landlord's reviews online. Messages about the landlord's personal life. A long account of how the experience made you feel, except where a health effect is a loss you can evidence. Repeated copies of the same thing. Anything you would not want read out in a public hearing, because since 14 September 2026 an adjudication is one.

A thin bundle that answers the questions beats a thick one that buries them. If a document does not prove a date, a term, a payment, a condition or a loss, it does not belong.

Where this leaves you

The adjudicator decides on what was sent in advance, so the bundle is the case. A one-page dated statement, then the agreement, the rent record, the deposit proof, the notice, the correspondence in full and in order, dated photographs, and receipts for every loss, each numbered and named. Witnesses who saw it, told in advance. Nothing covert, nothing personal, nothing that does not prove a fact. Keep it all in your tenancy file as it happens, so the bundle exists before you need it. Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454 before you send it. How to make an RTB dispute application covers the form the bundle goes with.