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tbs624
Posts: 10,816 Forumite
Following on from this report Nearly Legal (Housing Law News & Comment) have apparently been contacted by a reputable journalist wanting first hand accounts of police involvement in illegal eviction cases. Anyone for whom this may be relevant may like to email contact at nearlylegal.co.uk and they'll forward your details.
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From the articleOn her return she found the locks changed and some of her belongings in bags in the street. Some items were missing. She spent a night in hospital after an asthma attack then sofa surfed until being re-admitted 10 days later following a court order. Mr M continued to harass Ms S — ... Ms S only stayed intermittently at the property after that. In January 09 Mr M saw Ms S at the property. He called the police who, helpfully, confiscated her keys.
Hmm, plod need cutting down to size.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
Don't you think the Police are stretched enough without having to deal with rubbish like this.
This is of course a civil matter and requires no Police action but we still feel the need to call the Police for matters like these and then criticise them when they don't have the resources to deal with real crime and emergencies.0 -
Don't you think the Police are stretched enough without having to deal with rubbish like this.
Who would you suggest deals with it ?It all seems so stupid it makes me want to give up.
But why should I give up, when it all seems so stupid ?0 -
Shakethedisease wrote: »Who would you suggest deals with it ?
Civl courts0 -
The way I understand it, most landlord/tenant disputes are civil offences when it comes to conflicts around deposits, sub-letting and so on, often relating to the contract itself.
But there are criminal offences, such as harassment, breaching safety requirements and illegally evicting a tenant, where the Police can investigate and prosecute.
The civil courts, in this example, should have been used by the landlord to evict the tenant - that's the due process for getting a possession order.
Personally, I am happy for the Police to intervene where a landlord has harassed and illegally evicted a tenant without serving the correct notice and having a court order to support it. Nobody should be bullied and slung out on the street wtih their belongings.
I just believe that the Police are usually reluctant to get involved in most landlord/tenant matters, even when criminal, and have weak knowledge about when its civil or when its criminal.
Harassment & Illegal eviction
It has been a criminal offence for more than 30 years to harass or unlawfully evict an occupier who is legally entitled to be on the premises.
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/harassment.htm0 -
Perhaps you have misinterpreted the point here, which is that a LL who was apparently in the process of harassing and illegally evicting his T calls out the police to effectively assist him in doing so. Many would have expected the police officer(s) concerned to at the very least warn the LL about his own conduct and offer some support to the T, rather than seize the keys to the property: see Jowo's post above.mrstinchcombe wrote: »Don't you think the Police are stretched enough without having to deal with rubbish like this.
This is of course a civil matter and requires no Police action but we still feel the need to call the Police for matters like these and then criticise them when they don't have the resources to deal with real crime and emergencies.
In Scotland a report by Govan Law Centre last summer claimed that the police continued to advise tenants that unlawful eviction was a civil matter, despite it having been a criminal offencenorth of the border for 44 years link
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This is of course a civil matter and requires no Police action
Illegal eviction is a criminal offence and not a civil matter.
Ignorance of that exact fact is part of the problem!
Police are supposed to prevent crimes, not assist them.
I don't know what the scale of the problem is, but it does happen. I wouldn't criticise the police as an institution without some idea of scale. Mistakes happen anywhere.0
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