Tenant gave false reference, a criminal offence?

arlee

Recently found out the employment reference my tenant provided 18 months ago before signing the tenancy agreement was forged, it turns out he is not a solicitor nor does the solicitor firm he works exist, SRA has confirmed both in writing also take it as offence.

I reported this to police, but police doesn't take it seriously saying that using a false reference to gain a tenancy is not a crime... is that right?

My tenant hasn;t paid rent for 2 months, S8 is on the way to him, I used ground 8,10,11 and 17 on the S8 notice, I know my tenant will pay up a bit of rent just to bring the arrear below 2 months worth in order to stay put longer, I was wondering how much the chance to get rid of him only on ground of 10,11 and 17?

Thanks...

agrinnall

I imagine the police are right that it's not a criminal offence to use a forged reference to gain a tenancy, and you could have prevented this by actually checking the reference rather than taking it at face value, which I guess is something you will probably do in future. What might (and I'm only guessing) be some sort of offence is pretending to be a solicitor, although there probably isn't much sanction for it, and I doubt whether it would be of any help to you in securing an eviction.

I assume you are using S8 because the tenant is part way through a tenancy agreement that means you can't issue a S21 at this stage. I've never investigated S8 so I can't advise on how likely you are to succeed but I'm sure other more knowledgeable contributers will be able to help. Good luck!

missile

You might try bluff. Go to tenant and tell him you have discovered his reference was bogus. Tell him you would prefer not to pursue the fraud and ask him to leave.

DVardysShadow

arlee wrote: »

... I reported this to police, but police doesn't take it seriously saying that using a false reference to gain a tenancy is not a crime... is that right?

Probably.

I think you are barking up the wrong tree here. It may well be a crime to represent yourself as a solicitor in order to act as a solicitor. But your tenant has not done this.

As you are doing section 8, ground 17 sounds good to go in the pot Ground 17 (Landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly) at the same time. Don't major on it, but I think a judge won't look too kindly on this particular misrepresentation - and possibly the tenant will feel very uncomfortable about defending that particular issue.

jjlandlord

Sounds like a criminal offence to me: (fraud by misrepresentation)
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/fraud_act/

Now, will the police be interested in this case? Apparently not.

It'll probably be simpler to evict based on rent arrears, or s.21, though.
But indeed do add as many grounds as possible on the s.8 notice as T may try to pay enough arrears to avoid ground 8.

arlee

agrinnall wrote: »

I imagine the police are right that it's not a criminal offence to use a forged reference to gain a tenancy, and you could have prevented this by actually checking the reference rather than taking it at face value, which I guess is something you will probably do in future. What might (and I'm only guessing) be some sort of offence is pretending to be a solicitor, although there probably isn't much sanction for it, and I doubt whether it would be of any help to you in securing an eviction.

I assume you are using S8 because the tenant is part way through a tenancy agreement that means you can't issue a S21 at this stage. I've never investigated S8 so I can't advise on how likely you are to succeed but I'm sure other more knowledgeable contributers will be able to help. Good luck!

I have the tenant checked by Legal4xx(not sure I can disclose the company's name here) but they failed to discover this, and now they say they are not liable for the criminal activity that tenant made.

arlee

missile wrote: »

You might try bluff. Go to tenant and tell him you have discovered his reference was bogus. Tell him you would prefer not to pursue the fraud and ask him to leave.

I am sure if I did that, my tenant will surely accuse me of threatening and harassment in return! He has done that before just because I wrote to him(kindly) for rents.

BlueAngelCV

The Solicitors Act 1974 makes it a criminal offence to hold yourself out as a solicitor so even if the forged reference isn't then the holding out is.

I would write to him telling him that you have found out his reference is forged and pointing out that it is a criminal offence and suggesting that he leave before you involve the police.

clutton_2

it is a criminal offence.... to present information which is incorrect, such a tenant would be guilt of deception.. and that is a criminal offence.

Getting the police to take it seriously is another matter. A fellow landlord was successful a couple of years back in getting an ex tenant arrested and charged with deception in pursuit of obtaining a tenancy. The ex tenant was charged, and cautioned.

Your tenant sounds like a "professional tenant" who thinks he knows all the angles.

In another situation i had, with a professional tenant, i went to court on a S8 i and used every single breach i could dredge up, including arrears (which were not quite 8 weeks at the hearing date); a late payment schedule (showing how many days each months payments were late); damage to the property; refusal to allow inspections; having obtained the tenancy via deception and i cant remember what else.. but it was such a huge body of evidence that the judge gave her 14 days to leave.

Go for a S8 - what have you got to lose - a few quid. But the feeling of being in control again is worth the money.

You CAN issue a Section 21 notice at any time, but clearly it cannot end until the last date of the tenancy... so issue one and get it served by a process server, so that the tenant knows you are taking this very seriously indeed.

vax2002

I would confront them, bring it up and say 1 week and it goes to the police, so do one.

poppysarah

arlee wrote: »

Recently found out the employment reference my tenant provided 18 months ago .

And why didn't you check it at the time?