Evict a rogue Landlord - Shelter...

jamie11

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

It's worth making sure the public know about cases like these because in England and Wales once he leaves prison he can become a LL again.

Are you suggesting that he should not be allowed to be a landlord? I hold no brief for this guy but the upshot of that might be that barring someone from their profession could be extended to all walks of life.

The idea of prison sentences is to rehabilitate the offender and return him to society, not to make it impossible for him to earn a living forever after.

In any case, this incident involved a lodger and a live-in landlord, obviously the landlord was touched, unfortunate for the lodger but not a situation that normally occurs between landlords and tenants in AST type situations.

theartfullodger

Think he'd fail the "fit & proper" test which would rule him out of being a HMO LL or a registered Landlord of anything in Scotland ..

mustrum_ridcully

jamie11 wrote: »

Are you suggesting that he should not be allowed to be a landlord? I hold no brief for this guy but the upshot of that might be that barring someone from their profession could be extended to all walks of life.

The idea of prison sentences is to rehabilitate the offender and return him to society, not to make it impossible for him to earn a living forever after.

In any case, this incident involved a lodger and a live-in landlord, obviously the landlord was touched, unfortunate for the lodger but not a situation that normally occurs between landlords and tenants in AST type situations.

YES. As Artful has said under the Scottish system he'd never pass the "Fit and proper person" test.

Unfortunate? That's a bit a of an understatement.

theartfullodger

Thanks to landlordtoday for pointing this one out..

http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Landlord-ordered-by-court-to-pay-%C2%A3143-000

A man who turned three houses into rental flats without planning permission has been hit with a £143,000 court bill.

It included £112,500 in illegally gained rent which was confiscated after he was convicted three times for breaching planning enforcement notices, following three prosecutions by Richmond Council in Surrey.

& this one..
http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Landlord-must-tell-council-if-he-wants-to-let-out-property-again

Landlord must tell council if he wants to let out property again

A landlord in Corby, Northants, has been ordered by a court to let the local council know before he lets a property out again.

Ran Parmar was also fined £750 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs after his tenants’ complaints about damp and a broken central heating system were ignored.

He had already been taken to court by Corby Council after ignoring warnings to improve the property, but failed to comply with the improvement notice.

He must now inform the council before renting out property in the future so that checks can be made to make sure the house is in good condition.

Councillor Peter McEwan, of Corby Council, said: “Allowing a property to get into this state is not acceptable. We will need to ensure that it is a safe and comfortable environment for tenants to live in before we allow the property to be let back out.”

& this one
http://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/news_features/Landlord-fined-%C2%A38-000-over-house-from-hell

A landlord has been fined £8,000 after local authority inspectors said that the property he rented out to tenants was one of the worst they had ever seen.

Michael Fearon, 57, Leytonstone, East London, was found guilty at Stratford Magistrates’ Court of five offences of failing to carry out improvement works and 26 offences of failing to manage the property effectively.

The charges, which Fearon denied, related to an end-of-terrace house. Fearon, who owns seven more rental properties, blamed ill health and claimed the tenants were responsible for maintaining the property and not him.


Newham Council officers discovered exposed electrical wiring, filthy kitchen units, mouldy walls and no smoke detectors.

The council is currently undertaking a consultation exercise, examining the possibility of mandatorily licensing all private landlords and their properties in the borough.

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: “We will never accept private sector tenants being directly exploited by landlords who force them to live in dangerous and unacceptable conditions. Good landlords have nothing to fear from this scheme. For the bad ones, this a clear message they must clean up their act.”

Cheers!

Artful

tbs624

LL in Bath in court for fire safety breaches in an HMO

The property, which is a house in multiple occupation (HMO), owned by Mr. Hei Ting Cheung was visited by officers from the Council's Housing Services Team following a complaint. At the time of the visit, the battery fire alarms did not work, there was no door to the kitchen to prevent the spread of smoke and fire and the door locks were unsuitable as they could cause occupants to become trapped in the event of a fire. After the landlord failed to install appropriate fire precautions to protect the occupants, the Council took the decision to prosecute under Section 30 of the Housing Act 2004.

Fining Mr Cheung, of Hayesfield Park, £1,150, plus costs of £150 and £15 victim surcharge, the Magistrate's said that what the landlord had done fell incredibly short of what was required by the improvement notice issued by the Council.


Councillor Tim Ball (Lib-Dem, Twerton), Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, said, "Landlords must ensure that their housing is in safe condition or feel the full force of the law. They must get their houses in order..."

Source

theartfullodger

and property118 for raising this gentleman's behaviour...
http://www.property118.com/index.php/hmo-landlords-fined-for-flouting-fire-safety-rules/21577/

A rogue landlord was fined £8,000 for failing to maintain standards at a shared house that was taken over by a council.

Ken Herring, 66, admitted four offences of not complying with house in multiple occupation rules before Oxford Magistrates.


The court heard that Oxford City Council found the tenants living in such a dilapidated property with unmaintained fire escapes, unsafe stair carpet, poor lighting, and missing taps in the kitchen that they took the house in Salford Road, Marston, over in June.


Herring was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £645 costs.


Herring represented himself at the hearing and told magistrates that they were ‘fair’ but blamed a tenant for contributing to the problems at the house “so she can stab me in the back so she can get a council property”.

This is the third time Herring has faced magistrates over shared house offences, he told the court he was selling five of his nine properties to pay the fine and £4,000 outstanding from the other cases.

Joe McManners, city council board member for housing needs, said: “We are pleased with the outcome. This sends a strong message to landlords that the council will and does take action against landlords who do not comply with the regulations relating to houses in multiple occupation.”

tbs624

jamie11 wrote: »

Are you suggesting that he should not be allowed to be a landlord? I hold no brief for this guy but the upshot of that might be that barring someone from their profession could be extended to all walks of life.

Being a LL is not a "profession"

jamie11 wrote: »

The idea of prison sentences is to rehabilitate the offender and return him to society, not to make it impossible for him to earn a living forever after.

I agree that rehabilitation is the "idea" but the reality is that a spell inside does not always result in satisfactory rehabilitation.

Preventing someone from acting as anyone's LL again does not mean that it would be impossible for that person to earn a living: they'd have to get down to the Job Centre and work with their probation officer/NACRO etc to find alternative ways of paying their way.

In the specific case highlighted by Artful it was reported that the judge stated that it was likely that the "LL" would commit further violent acts in the future.

theartfullodger

Police officer avoids jail after evicting tenant from their home..

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Officer-avoids-jail-evicting-family-home/story-14100988-detail/story.html

A POLICE officer has narrowly avoided jail after throwing a mother out of her home.
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Sergeant Christopher Hine unlawfully evicted the woman, who was renting a bungalow from him.
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A court heard off-duty Hine, 50, his partner and two other men turned up to remove Catherine Baxter from the property.
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She was dragged out in tears, as shocked neighbours looked on.

Words fail me...

tbs624

Well, we've seen the tales of police officers whose behaviour effectively assists some LLs to evict their Ts, we had the magistrate who acted outside the law http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7466254/Magistrate-convicted-of-illegally-evicting-tenant.html and now this one.

Shameful.

BobQ

theartfullodger wrote: »

Police officer avoids jail after evicting tenant from their home..

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Officer-avoids-jail-evicting-family-home/story-14100988-detail/story.html

Words fail me...

If true and he is not sacked it brings the police itself into disrepute.