attempted illegal eviction or harassment?

mrsgellyg

Hello all, I hope you are all keeping well in this uncertain times. 
I am in England with a periodic tenancy, no arrears. Deposit protected but incorrect info on paperwork and no gas safety certificate. 
Earlier in the year, I wrote about my landlord and invalid section 21. The notice expired with no stay put on it for reactivation due to covid and I have not been given any other notices to quit.  I changed the locks as advised on here due to my landlord's husband letting himself in. However, since changing the locks, the following as happened - 
- accused of rental arrears when there were none 
- had horrible - yet anonymous -  threatening notes through my door accusing me of the rent arrears, stating that the LL thought  I was the perfect tenant and now I am causing nothing but trouble and that I should agree that I am totally in the wrong, and I am responsible for what I have done and what I am doing and accept that I am totally in the wrong 
- being asked by a third party what would make me move out 
- turning up randomly and standing outside the house and if they see me, they move over the road to the other property they own 
Because of all this, I have been looking for alternative accommodation for months and when I mentioned it to someone at work, they said it could be an illegal eviction based on the behavior. The other issue I have is that most of this is coming from the landlord's husband, not the landlord herself, who isn't even mentioned on the tenancy agreement. All this has come about due to them letting themselves in and I sent a polite letter asking them not to unless it was mutually agreed with 24 hours notice. 
I'd appreciate any insight or advice on what I could do. The rental market here isnt thriving like it usually is, which is making it difficult to find a new home. 
Many thanks!

greatcrested

Report to local police so that it is on record

* typically police misunderstand/reluctant to get involved in 'civil' disputes so make clear it is criminal (see below)

* keep a log of incidents. Date, time, who, what

* request a crime.report number. Don't call 999! go in to local station, or seek meeting with localcommunity officer. Don't get brushed off.If necessary, ask to see more senior officer

See (and quote to police) Protection from Eviction Act 1977

1 Unlawful eviction and harassment of occupier.
(1)In this section “residential occupier”, in relation to any premises, means a person occupying the premises as a residence, whether under a contract or by virtue of any enactment or rule of law giving him the right to remain in occupation or restricting the right of any other person to recover possession of the premises.

(2)If any person unlawfully deprives the residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of the premises or any part thereof, or attempts to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that he believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the residential occupier had ceased to reside in the premises.

(3) If any person with intent to cause the residential occupier of any premises—
(a) to give up the occupation of the premises or any part thereof; or
(b)to refrain from exercising any right or pursuing any remedy in respect of the premises or part thereof;
does acts calculated to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises as a residence, he shall be guilty of an offence.

[F1(3A)Subject to subsection (3B) below, the landlord of a residential occupier or an agent of the landlord shall be guilty of an offence if—

(a)he does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or

(b)he persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises in question as a residence,

and (in either case) he knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that that conduct is likely to cause the residential occupier to give up the occupation of the whole or part of the premises or to refrain from exercising any right or pursuing any remedy in respect of the whole or part of the premises.

The above is a criminal, not civil, matter. This may need stressing to the police.

Hopefully a community police officer would have a word with the landlord and that will be enough to make them back off.

mrsgellyg

thank you, there is a lot of useful information there. I will get that reported in the morning. It has been going on for months, so hopefully I can still report it from when it first happened. 

45002

You sue for damages too.

Harassment/illegal evictions also covered by 1988 Housing act/50/section 27/28 E&W

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/section/27?view=extent

princeofpounds

Agree with the above. Good luck and let us know how it goes. 

If a third party asks you 'what will make you move', then that's not necessarily bad. They may be asking for a price to get you to surrender. IF you wanted to negotiate on that basis, you could just say 'if the LL wants to discuss this, he can write me a letter asking the question'.

Comms69

Indeed, this is a perfect opportunity to negotiate a sum of money to leave if you are already considering it

HampshireH

If a creepy man was hanging around outside my house and intimidating me I would call the police...

Sounds like you have a creepy man hanging around outside your house intimidating you ...

Makes no difference who he is a relation of 

mrsgellyg

thank you for the advice so far. I know the landlord want the property back but hasn't mentioned coming to a deal. I have filled in an online report with the police. I doubt it will come to much but I have loads of evidence to prove that the landlords husband has either threatened to let himself in or admitted to letting himself in. If I was looking to take it further, for example to claim compensation, how would I go about this? I ask this as its been really stressful to the point ive had time off work.
Many thanks

45002

mrsgellyg

Change the Locks, if you not already done so.

If the LL keeps playing up and police drag their heals or say it's a civil offence. 

There is the Protection from Harassment Act 1997

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/crossheading/england-and-wales its both a civil and criminal offence.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/taking-action-about-discrimination/taking-action-about-harassment/

"If you’ve been the victim of abusive or threatening behaviour by someone near your home or when you're out and about it may be harassment. There are different things you can do if you’re being harassed"

Good Luck...

m0bov

Video him, keep the letters, call 101 NOW to report it. If you see him outside, 999.

greatcrested

mrsgellyg said:

thank you for the advice so far....... I have filled in an online report with the police. I doubt it will come to much ....

That's not what the advice was, and it's not sufficient.

Still - your choice.