Section 6 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 – Service of notices

Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (RTA 2004) · PART 1 – Preliminary and General

Revised Act prepared by the Law Reform Commission, updated to 1 March 2026. Amendments made after that date are not included.

(1)A notice or other document required or authorised to be served or given by or under this Act, section 4 of the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020, section 10 or 11 of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 or section 5 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 shall, subject to subsection (2), be addressed to the person concerned by name and may be served on or given to the person in one of the following ways:

(a) by delivering it to the person;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, at that address;

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid letter to the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for service has been furnished, to that address;

(ca) by sending it by electronic means to an email address, fax number or other electronic contact point used by the person for receiving emails, faxes or other electronic messages, where a record that the notice or other document has been sent is made for the sender by the email system, fax machine or other electronic system used;

(d) where the notice or other document relates to a dwelling and it appears that no person is in actual occupation of the dwelling, by affixing it in a conspicuous position on the outside of the dwelling or the property containing the dwelling.

(2)Where the notice concerned is to be served on or given to a person who is the owner, landlord, tenant or occupier of a dwelling and the name of the person cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry it may be addressed to the person by using the words the owner, the landlord, the tenant or the occupier, as the case may require.

(3)For the purposes of this section, a company shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

(4)A person shall not, at any time during the period of 3 months after a notice is affixed under subsection (1)(d) remove, damage or deface the notice without lawful authority.

(5)A person who contravenes subsection (4) is guilty of an offence.

(6)Where, in proceedings under Part 6, it is shown that a notice was served or given in accordance with the provisions of this section and on the date that it is alleged it was served or given, the onus shall be on the recipient to establish to the Board, the adjudicator or Tribunal's satisfaction that the notice was not received in sufficient time to enable compliance with the relevant time limit specified by or under this Act.

Official source: revisedacts.lawreform.ie · Version: 2026-03-01 · Full text · Contents

Provisions referring to this one

Section 4Interpretation generally

Other provisions in this part

Text according to the official source. Only the official publication is legally binding.