Posts with tag: rogue landlords

Calls for rogue landlords to be named

Published On: June 14, 2016 at 8:40 am

Tags: buy-to-let landlords,name and shame,rogue landlords,Sadiq Khan

The majority of buy-to-let landlords in the capital have moved to support a recent pledge from the mayor of London on publicly naming rogue landlords.

Sadiq Khan wants to name and shame landlords that have been convicted of housing-related offences and has received support from the sector, according to a new poll.

Shaming rogue landlords

A recent survey of landlords, conducted by the Residential Landlords Association, has uncovered that 75% are in favour of an online database which shames rogue landlords. This database would list landlords that have been successfully prosecuted for housing-related offences.

The move is one of a number of measures proposed by Mr Khan in his mayoral manifesto aimed at protecting the rights of renters.

RLA policy director David Smith noted, ‘landlords are ready and willing to work with the new mayor to develop workable solutions to ensure the safe, legal and secure homes to rent we all want to see.’[1]

‘The majority of landlords who provide decent housing and a good service to their tenants are fed up with the minority who provide substandard accommodation,’ he continued.[1]

Calls for rogue landlords to be named

Support

In addition, the survey found that 59% of buy-to-let landlords support the notion of letting agents being forced to publish a breakdown of their fees. 49% are in favour of capping fees charged by agents to both tenants and landlords.

Mr Khan has pledged to support the development of new homes in Britain. 37% of respondents to the survey noted that they would think about investing in new properties to rent in the capital, should plots of unused public sector land be highlighted for development of new housing.

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/6/name-and-shame-minority-who-provide-sub-standard-accommodation-say-landlords

Landlords fined for fire safety breaches

Published On: June 1, 2016 at 12:35 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: Buy-to-Let,fire safety,legislations,rogue landlords

Two rogue landlords from Hull have been fined after being found guilty of breaching fire safety regulations.

The brace of prosecutions were decided upon by Hull City Council for offences in two separate cases.

Fire safety fines

Firstly, Mr John Holmes was fined £1,600 for failures relating to a house in multiple occupation (HMO). In addition, Holmes was ordered to pay £700 in court costs, alongside a £125 victim surcharge.

This followed a ruling from Hull City Council’s environmental health department that there were failings in several properties owned by Mr Holmes in the city. In one property, the inspectors discovered a blocked fire escape and inadequate emergency lighting.

Another instance saw problems reported with the electrical wiring in a separate property. Mr Holmes was given informal requests for improvement works, all of which were ignored.

A subsequent visit to the HMO saw officers find an internal fire escape, serving six flats, to be blocked off.

Landlords fined for fire safety breaches

Failures

In the second case, rogue landlord Ashraf Khan was given a fine of £660 and told to pay costs of £504, with a victim surcharge of £66.

What’s more, Khan was charged a further £10,000 for improvement works arranged by the council.

Mr Khan ignored a previous improvement notice that was issued from the council, after officers had found electrical faults, shoddy fire precautions and window defects.

Councillor John Black, portfolio holder for housing, said, ‘we have a duty to protect private sector tenants and this proves that we take our role seriously. We tried to work with each landlord to reach a satisfactory conclusion but the work remained uncompleted, which is way we had no choice but to take this enforcement action.’[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/landlords-hit-with-fines-for-fire-safety-failings

Council wins landmark illegal sub-letting and eviction case

Published On: May 26, 2016 at 11:37 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: illegal sub-letting,rental market,rogue landlords,tenants

In a landmark case, a buy-to-let landlord has been prosecuted for both illegal sub-letting and illegally evicting at the same time!

Mr Rami Nazzal, 35 and from Sheffield, pleaded guilty at his hearing at Sheffield Magistrates Court last week.

Illegal sub-letting

After illegally sub-letting his council home, Mr Nazzal then evicted his tenant using excessive force. As such, the Court delivered a guilty verdict upon prosecution.

Nazzal allowed the tenant to rent his property for six months before forcing his tenant to leave after an argument.

Mr Nazzal was fined a total of £1,923, including £250 compensation and a victim surcharge of £15.

The victim, student Ata Allah Alalawi, who had moved to the Steel City in order to complete his studies, said, ‘he (Nazzal) told me it was his own property. He lied to me. I didn’t know he was a council tenant.’[1]

Threatening

After informing Mr Nazzal of his intentions to leave, Alalawi claims the landlord began to demand extra rent and became threatening.

Alalawi also claims that Nazzal grabbed him, forced him to leave the property and threatened to withhold his personal belongings should he call the police.

Sheffield City Council’s housing team is now undertaking legal proceedings in order to evict Nazzal from his council house.

Council wins landmark illegal sub-letting and eviction case

Criminal Offences

Councillor Jayne Dunn, a cabinet member for housing at Sheffield City Council, observed: ‘this person was breaking the law on two accounts-by illegally sub-letting his rented home and by forcing an eviction. This has been recognised by the courts and I hope it sends a strong message that rogue landlords will not be tolerated.’[1]

‘We want people to be able to live in good, safe housing, where their rights are respected. Thankfully most letting agents and landlords in Sheffield are very good. But we will take firm action on the minority that are not,’ Dunn pledged.[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/sub-letting-council-wins-landmark-case-against-landlord

Rogue leaseholders of HMO fined £120,000

Published On: May 20, 2016 at 1:49 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: HMO,Prohibition order,rogue landlords,tenants

The leaseholders and landlords of a 10-flat property in north London have been fined £120,000 after complete disregard of their responsibilities.

Idris Raza, TISHK Limited and Hanasa Limited were found guilty at Willesden Magistrates Court of ignoring a Prohibition Order. Despite this notice, there were still tenants living in the 10 studio flats located in the Golders Green area of the capital.

Complaints

After a complaint from a tenant in one of the flats, Barnet council found the accommodation to be in an inadequate condition and poorly managed.

The magistrates said that Raza had shown reckless behaviour as an individual and as a director of both TISHK and Hanasa Ltd. It was uncovered that very serious harm would have been extremely likely should a fire have broken out in the property, with up to 20 people potentially losing their lives.

In addition, the magistrates said that the tenants’ financial situation had left them vulnerable.

Rogue leaseholders of HMO fined £120,000

Risks

Risks reported to the court included inadequate fire separation between rooms, four studios with no external windows, broken ceiling panels and faulty locks on studio doors.

Alongside failing to comply with the Prohibition Order, the leaseholders and landlords were found to have breached the Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations 2007.

All three defendants were found guilty and fined a total of £120,000, with costs of £21,660 and a surcharge of £360.

Rogue landlord and letting agent prosecuted

Published On: May 17, 2016 at 1:43 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: buy-to-let sector,landlords,rogue landlords,rogue letting agents

Today has seen reports of two more rogues in the buy-to-let sector brought to justice.

Firstly, a letting agent from Oxfordshire was ordered to pay £3,500 alongside costs of £2,700 for letting a HMO in excess of licensed number of people that it was able to hold. In addition, the property was in serious disrepair.

Failings

Mr Carl Afialka, of Bicester, runs Christopher Stanley Letting Agents and manages a HMO in Oxford, which council officers found to be in breach of housing lows.

When officers inspected the property, which was licensed for five people, they were alarmed to found 11 inhabitants. These included a family with two young children living in one room!

In addition, the officers found that a number of HMO licence conditions had not been met. The bathroom had serious damp problems, which in turned led to a build up of mould that couldn’t be cleaned. What’s more, the window frames of the property were rotten, the back door was insecure and the garden was littered with rubbish.

After initially pleading not guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing, Mr Afilaka failed to attend his second hearing earlier this month. As a result, magistrates chose to proceed with the case and he was subsequently found guilty.

Rogue landlord and letting agent prosecuted

Hefty punishment

Meanwhile, a landlord from East London was ordered to pay a whopping £100,000 after developing illegal flats at her property.

At her hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Jaghtar Khaira of Elm Park was told to pay £88,500 after failings under the Proceeds of Crime Act. In addition, she was fined £2,500 for a second offence of failing to comply with an Enforcement Notice and an additional £10,300 in prosecution costs.

Khaira was granted planning permission to construct two flats at her property, but decided to develop four units for rent. This in turn resulted in a Planning Enforcement Notice being issued in 2011. As a result, Khaira was prosecuted and fined at Romford Magistrates Court in 2013. Despite this, she continued to rent out the two extra flats.

After the second prosecution, which resulted in a fine of £101,300, Mr Patrick Keyes, head of regulatory services at Havering Council said:

‘Throughout this investigation we have advised Mrs Khaira how she should comply but she continued to breach the Enforcement Notices and prosecution become the Councils only option.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/landlord-hit-with-100k-fine-for-building-illegal

Rogue Landlord Fined £39,000 for Breaching HMO Regulations

Published On: May 16, 2016 at 11:22 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: HMO,HMO regulations,rogue landlords

A rogue landlord in Southend has been handed a £39,000 fine for breaching House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) regulations.

Rogue Landlord Fined £39,000 for Breaching HMO Regulations

Last week, Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court ordered Robert Crow, of 19 Devereux Road, Southend, to pay £35,000 in fines and £4,000 in costs for 15 violations of the regulations that govern HMOs. Crow’s tenants were found to be living in appalling conditions.

After Crow ignored numerous prohibition orders and improvement notices from the council and refused entry to the property, an enforcement officer authorised a warrant on 20^th August 2015 to inspect the property with five police officers.

The officers found that the overcrowded property was being rented out in uninhabitable living conditions, with one tenant sleeping in a tiny bedroom with no windows and two people even found to be living in the backyard under tarpaulin.

Further breaches of HMO regulations include: an obstructed fire escape, an unclean bathroom and a category 1 hazard in the kitchen.

The court described the conditions as “appalling, deplorable and inhumane”, which have “no place in a modern Britain of today”.

The council’s Group Manager for Housing, Andrew Fiske, says: “Our enforcement officer who led the case said it was one of the worst cases they had seen in their professional career, and so this prosecution was vital and is welcomed.

“The police assistance and support was vital in this case, not only in order to gain entry to the property, but also with some of the information that they provided to help with the case, so we would like to thank them for that.”

He continues: “Mr. Crow was served numerous prohibition orders and improvement notices that were flagrantly ignored over a long period of time. Whilst we make every effort to develop good working relationships with private landlords, if rules are ignored so blatantly then we must and will take action to keep tenants safe.

“No one should have to be living in conditions like this, and this has ben recognised by the courts with a large fine that reflects the seriousness of the offences.”¹

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¹http://www.southend.gov.uk/news/article/845/criminal_landlord_gets_35k_fine