Evict a rogue Landlord - Shelter...

tbs624

Here's some LLs whose prosecutions are listed by the London Fire Service:

June 09 (link)
Two Haringey landlords have been sentenced to six months imprisonment and ordered to pay £5000 costs each for breaching fire safety regulations, after a successful prosecution by London Fire Brigade.
The prosecution followed a fire at a house converted into bedsits, on Hampden Road, N8, on 31 March 2007.
Sentencing of the building’s owners Michael de Havilland and Sally Fox, of Muswell Hill, took place at Wood Green Crown Court today (Friday 12 June), after de Havilland and Fox pleaded guilty to the breaches.

June 09 (link)
Shoalacre Ltd. of 44-50 The Broadway, Southall, Middlesex, UB1 1QB, admitted guilt on seven contraventions of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The case was held on Wednesday 17 June at Harrow Magistrates' Court.

Nov 2009 (link)
City of Westminster Magistrates' Court fined Mohammed Khan, £10,015 for seven breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Mr Khan has managed the property since 1997.

tbs624

lynzpower wrote: »

I thought you had to be fit & proper to hold HMO license in England is that not the case?

Yes , you do, but then Mr Hall probably doesn't have any HMOs.

Generally:

Fit and proper person

In determining if a person is fit and proper for the purposes of the Act, the council must take into account:

• Any previous convictions relating to violence, sexual offences, drugs and fraud
• Contravention of any law relating to housing or landlord and tenant matters
• Whether the person has been found guilty of unlawful discrimination
• Whether the person has contravened any Approved Code of Practice

It is, however, a matter for the council to determine the relevance of these considerations (or other matters it considers to be relevant) in deciding whether or not a person is fit and proper.

Bristol Council has a good clear page on Fit & Proper and the potential for subsequent removal of the status link

lynzpower

Yes. Seems to be a bit of a chasm there doesnt there.

Why do you have to be fit and proper to get a HMO license- but for a non HMO property any old scumbag can just do it ?

Of course we know that the vast majority of landlords are decent people providing decent housing its just the tiny minority yadda yadda

Ankatden

lynzpower wrote: »

Yes. Seems to be a bit of a chasm there doesnt there.

Why do you have to be fit and proper to get a HMO license- but for a non HMO property any old scumbag can just do it ?

Of course we know that the vast majority of landlords are decent people providing decent housing its just the tiny minority yadda yadda

So whom is stigmatising people now ?

In your world no doubt every tenant is an angel.

lynzpower

Ankatden wrote: »

So whom is stigmatising people now ?

In your world no doubt every tenant is an angel.

Im not stigmatising anyone :beer:

Dont you think it a bit of an anomaly that one must be a fit and proper person to run a HMO but not a non-HMO?

Brb

tbs624 wrote: »

Both cases are of equal interest, as "first" prosecutions, under specific legislation.

The one quoted by Lynz was also useful in that it clearly shows that LAs will be prosecuted for their failings: many posters on here suggest that it is always the LL who is responsible for the legal obligations towards a T.

In the case Lynz quotes it was indeed the LA who ended up in court, having failed to properly check the equipment provided to the student Ts. (i've previously quoted this one in this thread)

Indeedy it is - I must admit to thinking that LAs got off everything regarding their dealings with tenants so glad to be educated Wish I'd sued some LAs two years back but hey ho.

tbs624

Ankatden wrote: »

So whom is stigmatising people now ?

In your world no doubt every tenant is an angel.

Would you like some vinegar with that chip?

For the record, Lynz's "sharp tongue" has also been known to whip some hapless Ts on here when their behaviour comes across as less than satisfactory.;)

Stop being so paranoid. If DH is a good LL then you have nothing to worry about. Think it through, bad LLs removed from PRS = so many more Ts looking for the decent LLs.

Brb

tbs624 wrote: »

Would you like some vinegar with that chip?

For the record, Lynz's "sharp tongue" has also been known to whip some hapless Ts on here when their behaviour comes across as less than satisfactory.;)

Stop being so paranoid. If DH is a good LL then you have nothing to worry about. Think it through, bad LLs removed from PRS = so many more Ts looking for the decent LLs.

Hear Hear!

theartfullodger

N79 wrote: »

On a tangent to the point of this thread, that's the first time I've seen the tax return online screens and it looks quite good. What do people think? Is it easy to use and efficient? Should I keep dreaming of the days when I can finally stop having to fill out mountains of paperwork and do it online?

'twas OK for me but re. "Is it ..... efficient?" - dunno really, as you end up relying on HMRC to do the sums and for all I know they got them wrong (felt OK to me though). NB Why did I take screenshots?? Well, being by nature cautious and untrusting of government behemoths I wanted to be able to prove later what I'd entered in the various fields.. in case HMRC accused me later of improper acts with a keyboard. Yes they give you a nice report later, but we all know the programmers wot write that code make mistakes... There are 32 screenshots filed away, luckily Linux/Firefox is better at this than Windoze/IE...

Gorra do the wife's next, then sister-in-law...(They'll push the final button..) Why me???

tbs624

How up to date can we be?

From yesterday, in Manchester

Unlicensed landlord ordered to pay more than £9000

17 September 2010

Landlord Yang Shuangyan has been convicted and fined for letting out a house without a licence to seven tenants in south Manchester.

Shuangyan Yang, also know as Jenny Yang, was convicted after a trial yesterday (Thursday 16 September 2010) in Manchester Magistrates' Court of managing a house in multiple occupation (HMO) without a licence, under the national HMO Licensing Scheme, of the Housing Act 2004. She was sentenced to a £5000 fine and ordered to pay Manchester City Council costs of £4728.11 and a victim surcharge of £15.

The conviction comes exactly one year after Yang illegally evicted a tenant from the same property.

(my bolding)

Source

Given that she has previously illegally evicted a T, surely she not be permitted to have an HMO licence anyway?

LLs who illegally evict can hardly be described as "fit and proper" persons IMO