landlord rights

mynameisdave

Think you missed one company name change at the start of response to paragraph 5

Heelixx

mynameisdave wrote: »

Think you missed one company name change at the start of response to paragraph 5

Sorted, thnx for showing me

G_M

OP - I may have missed this in the tread but have you answered tbs's Q about your contract? Are you on a fixed term contract (ie for 6 months) and if so when does it end? Or has it ended and you are on a periodic contract (month by month?

Also - if the property is above the LL's pub, does the LL live there too? Do you share any part of the property with the LL or do you rent a separate flat which you & your flatmate have sole possession of?

If the contract is a joint one, you are right that your flat-mate is equally responsible for the full rent, not just his 1/2 share. Unfortunately neither the LL nor your flatmate seem to be aware of this (or if they are, to care).

Assuming your contract IS an AST (and you don't share the premises with the pub LL) you cannot legally be evicted without a court order.

However this does not help you if you are being threatened and are scared to return. You really need to convince the police a) that you are being threatened and b) that it is NOT a civil matter.

Many council's offer rinformation/support for tenants - read this from East Staffs council. Print it off and show it to the police and quote "Protection from Eviction Act 1977" which has been made stronger by the "Housing Act 1988."

I 'googled' "landlord threat harrassment" and many council websites came up all offering similar information so I'm sure your council must have a TRO and similar info. You need to get to speak to the right person - hard I know when council's move you around. PM your council to me if you wish.

mostlycheerful

tbs624 “He can put what he likes in his tenancy agreement but he cannot override the law.”

No, you’re wrong, on the contrary he has clearly overridden the law, with impunity, as this case abundantly demonstrates. He can and clearly unmistakeably is doing exactly what he wants and he’s clearly obviously old school hardnut crim and totally a law unto himself.

tbs624 “He can apply for repossession prior to the expiry of the Fixed Term on the grounds of specific breaches by the T, but has to do so via the courts”

No, he doesn’t, he’s simply done the job himself and he clearly has no interest in or respect or need for courts. He’s clearly a can do DIY criminal and the authorities routinely universally turn a blind eye and look the other way. Government policy in UK is to let thugs get away with doing crime, as is abundantly evident everywhere all the time.

tbs624 “You should also put in a formal complaint to the police - they have to take tenants seriously in these sort of cases and cannot simply fob you off with "it's a civil matter".”

No, on the contrary, you’re entirely wrong again, that’s exactly what they’ll say and yes they do routinely fob victims off all the time, as is frequently reported in media all over UK.

There’s virtually no rule of law in UK, thugs and crims run amok everywhere all the time and nearly always get away with it, government, police and justice system have almost completely failed and it’s just dog eat dog jungle law everywhere as both the examples in this thread of thuggery in action, both the bad tenants at the start of the thread and the bad landlord at the end of the thread, unequivocably demonstrate. Citizens have to defend themselves any way that they can and might is right, there is pretty much no actual “civilisation” as such, hence monstrous savagery such as this going unpunished all the time everywhere. The Home Office recently admitted in its published material that they know that there are “1.6 million hardened full time criminals” at large running amok doing heavy evil crime continuously everywhere all the time and that there is no intention to ever arrest, imprison or deport any of the evil barbarian criminals other than the occasional token few. Government has completely abnegated its duty of care to citizens and has abandoned them to their fate, it's just universal rampant anarchy in UK. There’s virtually no human rights, justice or civilisation in crime-pays-UK. What citizens have to understand is that talk of law and justice and human rights is mostly simply bogus and hype and that in reality there is little or none of either and the weak are crushed underfoot by the strong, Darwinian style.

Unless you play by jungle rules and get redress for yourself which of course therefore necessitates lowering yourself to the same vile level as the evil sick animal savages that you’re up against. Is it worth it? Is it your cup of tea? Personally I don’t bother, it’s not worth it and it’s not my cup of tea. I just avoid conflict and don’t precipitate it and I give thugs a wide berth and keep out of their way and I generally only go head to head with them if I’m cornered and there’s no other way to escape.

G_M

Mostlycheerful - I agree this LL appears to have no respect for the law, and I agree it can be hard to get the police/council involved. They need to be convinced a) that it's NOT a civil matter and b) that there really IS harrassment going on.

But your other generalisations are way OTT.

Compared to many (most?) countries we are very fortunate here to have a largely law-abiding populace, a minimal level of corruption, and opportunities to enforce the law denied the ordinary public in many parts of the world.

Read the Daily Mail and you'd not believe this, but nontheless Britain still has a lot going for it! (if you DO read the Mail, change your paper!)

None of this however helps the OP who has indeed clearly come up against a LL who's approach is NOT lawful. Thankfully, unlike the Rackman days in the 60s, these guys are rare nowadays.

mostlycheerful

G M : “But your other generalisations are way OTT.”

No, they’re not, that’s how it is. It’s true that government policy is not to arrest or imprison or deport any of the “1.6 million hardened full time criminals” that the Home Office state are at large doing crime, other than the occasional token few. That is complete lawlessness and anarchy, everywhere all the time in UK. And, by the way, the same is also true in most countries, and in many countries it’s a whole lot worse than UK as you can see if you look up all the crime statistics around the world.

G M : “a minimal level of corruption”

Yes, I agree with you there, Transparency International repeatedly rates UK as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. However, there is nevertheless a lot of corruption going on routinely in government and business as is frequently exposed in the media and at least we have a relatively free media to report it, so at least that’s something good to cherish and we should be grateful for small mercies.

G M “and opportunities to enforce the law denied the ordinary public in many parts of the world.”

Well, no, not really, citizens in UK in fact have little or no recourse to law as both these tragic cases fully illustrate and in most parts of the world law is applied rigidly by local tribal courts, local crime gangs and heavy autocratic tyrannical despotic state secret police. So we’re a lot freer here and the cost is that we have little or no social cohesion and we have massive amounts of crime happening all the time and everyone is routinely burgled and mugged and attacked and defrauded all the time and there’s no rule of law anywhere.

G M “Read the Daily Mail…”

And The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Mirror, The Express, The Sun, The Star, The News of the World and all the local newspapers in every part of UK and numerous tv programs and they all continuously universally report the same thing that there is a massive amount of crime happening all the time in UK and very little ever in the way of law enforcement or rule of law.

G M : “None of this however helps the OP”

Yes it does as if the OPs read this they will now be aware of the state of anarchy in UK and what they are up against and that talk of law is mostly just wasted hot air as actually there isn’t any law in UK, there’s just dog eat dog jungle law. So now armed with this knowledge, and having found out the hard way from the dreadful experiences that they are currently having, they can from now on plan accordingly and be a lot more careful in future and avoid getting ripped off by avoiding tangling with thugs and savages ie be very choosy what tenants you take and be very choosy what landlord you rent from. Never just take a punt or try to make do with any old people as there are so many evil sick criminals out there that unless you take the utmost care in your choices you will inevitably get ripped off and sometimes very badly, as in these tragic cases. Yes, as is so often the case, the moral of the tale is caveat emptor buyer beware and always do due diligence and always look before you leap. Never just go in blindly or hope for the best. Always plan for worst case scenario and always be wary about everything to do with housing and business and people. And be very very careful and very very choosy about who you do business with and never attempt to do it with low quality people.

G M : “Thankfully, unlike the Rackman days in the 60s, these guys are rare nowadays.”

No they’re not, they’re everywhere and there’s loads of them as all the thousands of stories in the media and on these type of public forums attest all the time. Beware, there’s a lot of horrible people around so remember this and bear it in mind and don’t be naïve or trusting of people unless you have clear evidence that they’re good people otherwise you’ll get ripped off.

theartfullodger

Helix I'm really sorry to read your storey, this Landlord is a disgrace to all landlords(I'm a Landlord) & Britain. Appalling!

Couple of points if I may...
a) Contact Shelter
0808 800 4444 -
8am-8pm Monday-Friday
8am-5pm Saturday-Sunday
but they are a charity & you may need to wait a bit.. or also see
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/housing_advice_helpline
& the rest of their excellent site which has very good, unbiased & fair advice. Shelter are the experts in this...
b) Glad to hear the Police are involved,... well done! Quite right, that's what they are there for...
c) Damages for your treatment... herewith a few pointers to "interesting" cases in this general area..

Civil Procedings for illegal eviction
O2.4 Guppys (Bridport) Ltd v Brookling (1984) CoA £1,000.00 Housing Law casebook
Tenants forced to leave by building works
O2.5 Haniff v Robinson (1993, 1992) CoA £24,000.00 Housing Law casebook
Eviction without using court bailiffs after possession order obtained unlawful
O2.12 Sampson v Floyd (1989) CoA £11,364.00 Housing Law casebook
Physical eviction not necessary for breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment
O4.6 King v Jackson (1998) CoA Housing Law casebook
Assessment of damages under s28 to take account of a tenant’s right to occupy being limited by her agreement to leave
O4.9 Nwokorie v Mason (1994) CoA £4,500.00 Housing Law casebook
Occupied a room in shared house, residendtial Landlord, evicted with no Court Order
O4.12 Tagro v Cafane and Patel 1991 CoA £46,538.00 Housing Law casebook
Tenant had on of 4 bed-sitting rooms, serious harrassement/eviction
O4.15 White v Lambeth LBC (1995) CC £18,000.00 Housing Law casebook
s28 damages for loss of secure tenancy
Aricioglu v Kaan Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court, 16 October 2009 CC £9,975.00 "Nearly Legal" / LAG
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2009/12/unlawful-eviction-quantum-again/
Addison v Croft Preston County Court April 2008 CC £7,000.00 "Nearly Legal" / LAG
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2008/06/illegal-eviction-and-disrepair-damages/
Wallace v Manchester 30 HLR 1111 (also as [1998] EWCA Civ 1166 (Key case??) - Disrepair CoA £3,500.00 "Nearly Legal"
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2007/09/quantum-in-disrepair/
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1998/1166.html
English Churches Housing Group v Shine [2004] EWCA Civ 434; [2004] H.L.R.42. (Disrepair) CoA £8,000.00 "Nearly Legal" Less some £1,500: Costs awarded
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2007/09/quantum-in-disrepair/

Damages at Common Law
O9.3 Drane v Evangelou (1978, 1977) CoA £1,000.00 Housing Law casebook
Exemplary damages appropriate for unlawful eviction
O9.5 Lord and Haslewood-Ogram v Jessop (1999) CoA £5,716.99
Damages for unlawful eviction and harassment, bed-sitting room.. Housing Law casebook
- 2nd tenant, another bed-sitting room £4,948.95 Housing Law casebook
O9.10 Mehta v Royal Bank of Scotland HC £27,500.00 Housing Law casebook
Damages for unlawful eviction of long-term licensee of hotel
O9.12 Ahmed v Bains (2001) CC £13,495.00 Housing Law casebook
£100 per day general damages for unlawful eviction, £3,000 aggravated and exemplary damages
O9.12A Arabhalvaei v Rezaeipoor (2008, 2007) CC £188,526.61 Housing Law casebook
damages for harassment and disrepair, protected tenant, 1-bed flat
O9.13 Bamberger v Swaby (2005) CC £6,000.00 Housing Law casebook
AST trespass, illegal eviction, 8 days out-of-home: £300/day gen damages
O9.14 Biga v Martin (2001, 2000) CC £13,400.00 Housing Law casebook
AST Violent eviction, PTSD
O9.16 Daley, James, Wiseman and Reynolds v Mahmoood and Rahman CC £100,000.00 Housing Law casebook
£100,000 common-law damages for harassment and unlawful eviction of four occupants, Rent Act
O9.17 Daramy v Streeks (2003) CC £5,250.00 Housing Law casebook
Damages for eviction of assured shorthold tenant without using court bailiffs
O9.18 Diallo v Brosnan (2007, 2006) CC £2,000.00 Housing Law casebook
£2,000 damages for four nights’ eviction and aggravating features (knife)
O9.24 Naveed v Raja (2007) CC £27,000.00 Housing Law casebook
£27,000 common-law damages for assaulted AST tenant
O9.26 Pillai v Amendra (2000) CC £36,000.00 Housing Law casebook
Damages for bad case of eviction,
O9.30 Youziel v Andrews (2003) CC £20,000.00 Housing Law casebook
Damages of £20,000 for personal injury and assault

.. which might help Shelter and/or any solicitor form their ideas on how to address this little b******d.


Keep posting for advice here & keep updating us on status.


Don't let the b******d get you down & keep smiling & that chin up!!


Cheers & best wishes!

Artful

Heelixx

G_M:~ (In answer to questions I didn't respond to earlier)

The AST is a fixed term contract for 6 months, it started in May 1st ends Nov 1st.

The Flat in question is not shared with the LL, it is solely only for Mr A & B.

The Police dealing with the case are doing the best they can about the situation but they do lack knowledge of lets say "Housing Laws". In all honesty they can't proceed further until my Flatmate tells them exactly what happened. . . but he is relluctant to do this for reasons unknown or i just can't fathom. Flatmate in question works for the Government & he deems, that it will interfere with his work & may lose his Job, this to me is laughable.

I tried the "Protection From Eviction Act 1977" card & for some reason whenever i used this no-one seemed to know what it meant or pointed me in the correct direction for aid.

Sorry it took me so long to reply as not got a home anymore and have to rely on cafe's with internet or wait till friends can let me use theirs.

<sebb>

Print this page off and take it to the police officers dealing with your case

http://www.atro-online.com/guide-to-training-police.html

Can you afford a solicitor? If not, do you qualify for legal aid? You need legal advice.

I'm sorry this is happening to you, and good luck.

mostlycheerful

Heelixx : “In all honesty they can't proceed further until my Flatmate tells them exactly what happened”

Rubbish, they’re just fobbing you off like they nearly always do. They don’t need any info from anyone else, think about it, if you were a young girl saying you’d been raped they’d be all singing and dancing and they’d get on the case, wouldn’t they. No, you’re just “civil” and boring and their hands are tied, and, as you say, they’re ignorant of housing law as that’s not their thing, and, really, face it, they don’t care and they’ve only got limited manpower and resources and government, police and justice system policy is to let crims and thugs get away with it, as is reported in media all the time and as is experienced by millions of people all the time.

So you can either continue to bang your head against the brick wall or you can cut your losses, dust yourself down, put it down to experience and get on with the rest of your life. And don’t rent off a thug and don’t deliver a legalese letter to a thug and don’t muck about being late trying to get money out of housing benefits and expect a thug to tolerate that ever again otherwise you’ll just get another boot in your face as in this instance.