Evict a rogue Landlord - Shelter...

lynzpower · 5 November 2010 at 6:14PM

http://www.cieh.org/ehn/ehn3.aspx?id=33848

Stephen Battersby, CIEH president, told Panorama: ‘Looking at the figures, including house condition survey figures, it would be reasonable to think that about £3.5bn of housing benefit goes to what I would call neglectful landlords.’

In the private rented sector 1.2 million homes are non-decent, with 834,000 suffering a category 1 hazard that poses the greatest risk to health.

Housing campaigners fear that the combination of housing benefit cuts and lack of social housing will force ever-greater numbers of vulnerable tenants into the hands of landlords providing non-decent housing.

During the programme, the CIEH also warned that upcoming budget cuts will have a ‘devastating’ effect on the environmental health profession’s ability to police private landlords.

:eek: :eek:

tbs624 · 6 November 2010 at 1:06PM

Absentee LL ( London based) fined £15,000 plus costs for failing to ensure that three properties in Norwich were sufficiently heated. ( October 2010)

"Relay Arch, which owns flats in Earlham House, ....... was found guilty in its absence at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on Thursday of three breaches of a section 11 improvement notice."

The flats had storage heaters but were so cold that they were designated a Category 1 and an improvement notice was served but apparently ignored

84 flats in the block (50 of which are owned by these LLs) were checked out by the private sector team and Norwich Council may initiate further proceedings on the rest of the properties

Source

theartfullodger · 10 November 2010 at 10:37AM

..
see..

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/2010/11/05/Oxford+news+%28om_oxfordnews%29/8496682.Landlord_jailed_for_wrongful_eviction/
..

Landlord jailed for wrongful eviction

A LANDLORD who unlawfully evicted his tenant has been jailed.
Kenston McIntosh forced out Michael Hutchinson from the property, in Balfour Road, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, in March.
McIntosh, 51, was jailed for three months at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after admitting unlawful eviction.

Cheers!

Artful

lynzpower · 10 November 2010 at 6:12PM

tbs624 wrote: »

Absentee LL ( London based) fined £15,000 plus costs for failing to ensure that three properties in Norwich were sufficiently heated. ( October 2010)

"Relay Arch, which owns flats in Earlham House, ....... was found guilty in its absence at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on Thursday of three breaches of a section 11 improvement notice."

The flats had storage heaters but were so cold that they were designated a Category 1 and an improvement notice was served but apparently ignored

84 flats in the block (50 of which are owned by these LLs) were ochecked out by the private sector team and Norwich Council may initiate further proceedings on the rest of the properties

Source

interesting that cold was identified as a category 1, have heard rumblings that it cant be category 1 for excess cold (I took issue natch

Given this year is apparently going to be a lot colder than last year, these rogues need to get thier acts together and get heating systems in.

Tenants without heating, get EHOs involved!!

clutton_2 · 10 November 2010 at 7:48PM

cold has now overtaken fire as the major causes of unnecessary deaths in the UK PRS - thankfully the HMO regs have reduced house fires and deaths quite substantially.

the deaths from cold in the elderly population is quite frightening in the winter time....

Some of the category one risks under HHSRS are nowhere near as dangerous as the council and EHOs make out... for example some of their trip hazards are very hard to understand, and trying to impose 21st century building structures onto old edwardian/victorian properties sometimes just does not work....

People have been living in these properties for over 100 years and i sometimes think a hammer has been used to crack a nut in some of the "risks".

Having said all that I utterly concur with lynz on heating.... lack of heating is a killer and rogue landlords should be prosecuted whenever possible....

tbs624 · 10 November 2010 at 9:38PM

theartfullodger wrote: »

..
see..

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/2010/11/05/Oxford+news+%28om_oxfordnews%29/8496682.Landlord_jailed_for_wrongful_eviction/

Thanks for posting that one up Artful - good to hear of prison sentences being imposed for LLs who illegally evict their Ts

Another one, dated Dec 2009, this time from the Barnsley area :

A Landlord is beginning a three-month prison sentence after pleading guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to evicting illegally a Barnsley family from their rented home.

Stephen Brook, (53), a partner in Dewsbury-based Investment Properties, pleaded guilty to the offence, contrary to the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

The prosecution of Brook, of Woodkirk, Dewsbury, was brought by the council following complaints made to its Homelessness section by two households in the borough. The prosecution related to an illegal eviction in September last year in the Wombwell area.

On 26 November this year Judge Moore was told that the locks to the property had been changed while the tenants were out. Requests by them to Brook to be allowed to return to their home were ignored. The tenants contacted the council and, when told that his actions were unlawful, Brook replied that he ‘did not do legal evictions’.

source

tbs624 · 11 November 2010 at 12:31AM

clutton wrote: »

Some of the category one risks under HHSRS are nowhere near as dangerous as the council and EHOs make out... for example some of their trip hazards are very hard to understand, and trying to impose 21st century building structures onto old edwardian/victorian properties sometimes just does not work....

Here's a case apparently involving a Victorian property and trip hazards:

Leeds City Council, 23 August 2010: The landlord involved was Mr Roy Layton whose main mailing address was known as 254 Burley Road and rented 3 flats at 254 Burley Road, Leeds LS4 2LA. Following a complaint from one of the tenants, the investigating officer identified 3 Category 1 hazards namely falls on stairs, falls on the level and fire safety and 3 Category 2 hazards namely personal hygiene, sanitation and drainage, falls between levels and electrical issues. Category 1 defects amounted to a lack of a handrail to a long flight of external steps to the property, a small step at the top of the first floor staircase which presented a tripping hazard and no monitored mains wired fire alarm system installed to the communal areas and flats. Other Category 2 issue were a missing shower curtain, missing window restrictors, loose and defective electrical sockets.

Having initially discussed these matters with the landlord, no informal solution could be agreed and therefore, an Improvement Notice was served under Section 11 and 12 Housing Act 2004 on 15 October 2009 requiring various works, which must commence before 13 November 2009 and completed before 13 December 2009.

The landlord did not undertake any works to comply with the notices and did not respond to any telephone or written communications to discuss these matters. Proceedings were brought against the landlord under Section 30 of the Housing Act for non-compliance with the Improvement Notice. The defendant did not attend and the case was heard and proved in his absence. Fines of £1,220 in total were imposed for non-compliance with the Improvement Notice and costs of £1021.54 were awarded to Leeds City Council. This was the first case in Leeds for non-compliance with an Improvement Notice.

tbs624 · 11 November 2010 at 11:06AM

Have posted this one in another thread on LAs but it's probably useful to keep the "Rogues" all in one corner, even though this report relates to dodgy LA finances rather than repairs/licensing issues ....

Rogue Norwich letting agent jailed
Wednesday, 10 November, 2010
12:00 PM

A rogue letting agent who stole £137,000 from landlords and tenants was yesterday jailed after a court heard he was guilty of a gross breach of trust.

David Sole ran the Belvoir agency in Charing Cross, Norwich, until his arrest in December 2009. He handed himself into the police after evidence began to emerge that he had taken rent and deposits from tenants but never passed it on to landlords or deposit holding agencies.

He was jailed for 21 months at Norwich Crown Court after admitting theft. But the court heard he has few remaining assets and only £10,000 is likely to be recovered from the sale of his house. This will be confiscated but must be shared between about 65 victims, meaning there is little hope they will ever be repaid in full.

Prosecutor John Farmer said Mr Sole had taken over the Belvoir Norwich franchise in 2002 and had no previous experience or training. “The defendant should never have been in this business at all and it ran at a loss from day one,” he added.

Sole, 38, of The Street, Lenwade, began to steal in 2007 and, when the recession hit and he lost clients, found himself taking more and more to prop up the business and support his family

He sent clients statements saying payments had been made and relied on them not checking their bank statements to verify his claims. Tenants discovered they were being ripped off when their deposits were not returned at the end of their contracts.

Source

His legal rep apparently said "The money did not go on flash holidays or extravagance."

I'm sure that will make the Ts and LLs feel a whole lot better.......

tbs624 · 24 November 2010 at 5:50PM

Just to link this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1418589&page=6 for any potential Ts in the Didsbury area

tbs624 · 24 November 2010 at 8:21PM

Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Landlord gets £4,822 bill over failing to follow regulations at student house

A landlord who failed to comply with housing regulations at a house in multiple occupation he rented to students is facing a bill of almost £5,000.

At Leeds Magistrates Court on 5 November 2010, Mr Ahmed Mushtaq of Broomhill Drive, Leeds pleaded guilty to five charges relating to a house he rented out on Richmond Avenue, Headingley, Leeds.

Following a Leeds City Council prosecution, Mr Mushtaq pleaded guilty to two offences of failing to comply with conditions attached to his House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) licence and three offences under management regulations.

He was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,322 with a victims surcharge of £15.

A complaint from tenants about conditions at the property, for which Mr Mushtaq was receiving approximately £16,000 a year in rental payments, prompted the council’s HMO Licensing Team to carry out an inspection in January this year. It was during this inspection that breaches of licence conditions and Management Regulations were identified including:

o Failing to install the required fire detection system
o Failing to install all of the necessary fire doors
o Failing to maintain the kitchen fire door
o Failing to maintain an existing battery operated smoke detector
o Failing to provide hand rails on staircases

Councillor Peter Gruen, Leeds City Council’s executive board member for housing, said:
“These properties are licensed to ensure the protection of the people living in them.
“The majority of landlords take their responsibilities seriously but when a landlord fails to maintain such a property, we will take action against them.
“I hope this sends out a very clear message to tenants in both the private and public sectors that if there are problems with your accommodation the council is there to help.”

Mandatory licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation comprising three or more storeys, occupied by five or more people who share basic amenities, was introduced by the Housing Act 2004. It came in to force in 2006 and so far around 2,800 licences have been issued by the council for properties across the city. HMO licences contain conditions relating to matters including fire safety, heating and kitchen and bathroom facilities. Licences also restrict occupancy levels at a property
(my bolding)
Source

There we are folks - an example of the other side of the coin. We have the rla, paul shamplina and ms butler's mates going on about how long it takes to evict errant Ts. Almost a year to bring this errant LL to book.............

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Evict a rogue Landlord - Shelter...

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