Posts with tag: rogue landlords

Landlord Prosecuted Over Misleading Omission

Published On: July 17, 2015 at 9:00 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) has been successfully used to prosecute a landlord who was charged with making a misleading omission.

In one of the first cases of this kind, the landlord had not informed his tenants that their flats were subject to a planning notice.

Landlord Prosecuted Over Misleading Omission

Landlord Prosecuted Over Misleading Omission

Southwark Trading Standards and Southwark Council’s planning enforcement team brought the case against Majid Saniinejad.

Saniinejad had converted a flat into two smaller homes, breaching the Council’s minimum size standards.

One of the flats did not have a window in its bedroom, which breaches fire safety and building regulations.

The landlord had rented out one flat before the planning enforcement notice was served, which required the use of the property as two dwellings to cease.

Saniinejad and his firm, Hertford (UK), appealed against the notice and he then let out the second flat.

After this, he lost his appeal and was given six months to comply with the notice.

However, Saniinejad then renewed the first tenancy for a further 12 months.

He also failed to comply with the enforcement notice and the long-term case ended with a district judge finding Saniinejad and Hertford (UK) guilty of misleading omissions under the CPRs.

The case has now been forwarded to Croydon Crown Court for sentencing and confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

At the time the offences were committed, the maximum penalty for breaching the CPRs was £5,000 in a magistrates’ court and an unlimited fine in a crown court.

Seemingly, no other successful prosecutions have used CPRs.

Paul Gander, a trading standards team leader at Southwark Council, has written up the case here: http://portfolio.cpl.co.uk/TS-Today/201507/rental-sector/.

Holiday Lettings Pair Banned for Ten Years

Published On: July 14, 2015 at 5:00 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

A mother and son have been banned for ten years from being company directors after they submitted false annual accounts and VAT returns to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Holiday Lettings Pair Banned for Ten Years

Holiday Lettings Pair Banned for Ten Years

The pair were directors of a company that traded as importers of plywood, but also rented out holiday homes.

Janis Hawkes, 75, of Glynneath, Wales and Geraint Hawkes, 48, of Swansea, Wales, have been disqualified for a decade.

The firm, F G Hawkes (Western), traded as RKL Plywood and was based in Swansea.

The company ceased trading in October 2011 with an estimated shortage of £26,705.170.

Geraint Hawkes is the co-owner of Neath Rugby Club. Apparently he has held 50% ownership since 2003.

In April 2015, the BBC reported that Geraint was released from police bail after being arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.

Among his former firm’s debts was £444,054 of business rates accumulated between 2005-11, which had to be written off by Swansea City Council.

The Insolvency Service opened an investigation and discovered that the pair had signed off the company’s annual accounts, aware that they contained false information, and had also submitted false VAT returns to HMRC, culminating in an under-declaration of at least £1,518,539.

The court ordered that the Hawkes pay costs of £16,750 by 29th July 2015.

Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, Sue MacLeod, says: “The signing of documents knowing they contain misleading information, which may be relied upon by third parties, and submitting false VAT returns is serious misconduct, which the Insolvency Service will investigate with a view to removing you from the market place.”1

The pair’s ban was ruled last month at the High Court of Justice Chancery Division in Cardiff, but the length was determined recently.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/holiday-lettings-firm-duo-banned-for-ten-years/

 

 

 

 

Councils Crack Down on Rogue HMO Landlords

Published On: July 14, 2015 at 1:03 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

Councils Crack Down on Rogue HMO Landlords

Councils Crack Down on Rogue HMO Landlords

Councils around the country are cracking down on unsafe Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) after a number of successful prosecutions against rogue landlords.

Individual fines issued by the courts have reached tens of thousands of pounds, which is a warning to those that do not comply with current regulations.

One of the larger fines was to a landlord in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, who was ordered to pay over £17,000 after pleading guilty to 23 offences regarding his HMO. The charges included failing to maintain the property to a safe and satisfactory condition and failure to comply with fire safety regulations.

Other significant fines were in Barnet at £10,000, Bristol at £7,500, Cambridge at £7,000 and Lincoln at £5,700. Additionally, landlords in Dartford, Fylde, Hillingdon and Sutton Coldfield suffered penalties.

The London Borough of Barnet has now implemented an amnesty as a result. HMO landlords in Barnet who are operating without a license must apply before 31st July 2015, or face prosecution.

Camden Council is also planning to introduce new licensing rules for landlords of shared accommodation. From December 2015, a new five-year license will only be granted if minimum standards are met. Camden Council hopes that living conditions for tenants within the borough will improve as a consequence.

Lincoln Council is proposing legislation that would limit the number of new HMOs. Their plans involve requiring landlords and property owners to gain planning permission before converting a property into an HMO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Landlord confronts rogue agent who owes £20,000

Published On: July 7, 2015 at 2:27 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,

This week’s episode of ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’ will show how just one rogue agent can give other, conscientious ones a bad reputation.

Margaret Wilson is to come face to face with the unscrupulous agent that owes her £20,000. Mrs Wilson owns a couple of rental properties in Oxfordshire and two years ago, she decided to put them under the control of agent Carl Afilaka of Christopher Stanley Lettings Ltd.

Non-payments

Initially, everything was in order, with Mrs Wilson receiving monthly payments from the agent. However, after the first year, despite tenants paying rent to Mr Afilaka, he in turn stopped paying Mrs Wilson. As a result, she is now owed around £20,000.

Investigations into Christopher Stanley Lettings Ltd has found that Mrs Wilson was not the first person to be scammed by Afilaka. Other landlords have complained of their deposits not being securely registered or not returned, with others citing violent behavior.

Mrs Wilson contacted Trading Standards and the police, both with no successful outcome. After a few fruitless months trying to contact Mr Afilaka, she eventually got in touch with Landlord Action’s debt recovery department. With the help of founder Paul Shamplina, Mrs Wilson finally gets to confront the rogue landlord face to face.

Landlord confronts rogue agent who owes £20,000

Landlord confronts rogue agent who owes £20,000

Infuriating

‘For a number of years, our debt recovery department has been taking legal action for landlords against rogue agents that withhold rent owed to landlords for their own business and cash flow purposes,’ said Mr Shamplina. ‘It infuriates me that any agent is able to get away with this whilst causing so much distress to a landlord. It can often discourage them from using a good reputable letting agent in the future.’[1]

‘All landlords should do their research with regards to finding a good agent, making sure they belong to an association such ashttp://www.arla.co.uk/ or NALS, that they are registered with a mandatory redress scheme and, most importantly, that they have client money protection insurance in place.  Landlords can also look for the SAFEagent logo which will give them a peace of mind. This way, if ever the instructed agent was to go out of business the rent and their tenant’s deposit would be insured.’[1]

See Mrs Wilson give Mr Afilaka his comeuppance tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 5.

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlord-faces-agent-who-owes-her-20000.html

 

 

 

Rogue HMO Landlord in Brent is Fined Again

Published On: July 3, 2015 at 11:57 am

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,

Rogue HMO Landlord in Brent is Fined Again

Rogue HMO Landlord in Brent is Fined Again

A landlord, who was the first to be fined in the North West London Borough of Brent for owning an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), has been fined again after owning an overcrowded and dangerous property.

Douglas Gerard-Reynolds packed 16 people into a six-room rental house, just months after he was ordered to pay £2,500 due to a lack of license. His second property, in Willesden Green, was also unlicensed.

Willesden Magistrates’ Court heard that not only was the six-room property severely overcrowded, the ceiling was also hazardous with the potential to collapse and electrical wiring was dangerous.

Gerard-Reynolds was given a fine of £6,500, and ordered to pay costs and other charges totalling £2,143.

However, this was not his first offence. In April, he was the first landlord to be fined due to a lack of HMO license for another property. This home also had poor heating facilities and water leaks. He was issued a fine of £1,000.

Councillor Margaret McLennan, Brent Council’s Lead Member for Housing and Development, says: “This is exactly why we introduced the landlord licensing schemes this year; to protect people who rent in Brent.

“This case should serve as a deterrent to any landlords who are dragging their feet when asked to apply for a license. The licensing scheme is vital for the protection of vulnerable tenants, many of whom are unaware of their housing rights.”1

1 http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/news/3937-original-rogue-hmo-landlord-fined-again.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unsafe HMO Results in £16,000 Fine for Landlord

Published On: June 30, 2015 at 2:33 pm

Author:

Categories: Landlord News

Tags: ,,,,

A landlord in Blackbird Leys, Oxford has been ordered to pay over £18,000 after pleading guilty to 12 charges regarding an unsafe House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

Ashraf Suleiman Salim El-Hosny, 31, admitted the charges at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday 22nd June 2015.

Oxford City Council brought the prosecution after environmental health officers discovered El-Hosny was renting out an unlicensed HMO on Peregrine Road, which was in a state of disrepair, and did not comply with legal requirements.

An HMO is a property rented by at least three people who do not form one household but share facilities, such as the bathroom or kitchen.

Environmental health officers from Oxford Council’s HMO Enforcement Team inspected the home in November after receiving complaints that it was unlicensed.

Officers learnt that tenants were living in overcrowded conditions, there was no working fire alarm, fire escapes were obstructed, waste was amassing and some electrics were unsafe, such as a broken plug socket.

El-Hosny pleaded guilty to managing an unlicensed HMO and received a £5,000 fine for failing to obtain a license.

He also pleaded guilty to ten breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 and was given a £1,000 fine for each breach.

El-Hosny was also fined £1,000 after admitting failure to comply with a notice served under the Housing Act 2004.

Magistrates then ordered El-Hosny to pay the Council’s full costs of £1,940 for bringing the case to court and a £120 victim surcharge. The total reached £18,160.

Ed Turner, Deputy Council Leader, was pleased that El-Hosny has been brought to justice, saying the case could have ended in “tragedy.”

He continues: “Offences like this committed by landlords are extremely serious.”1 

1 http://m.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/13356708.Unsafe_cramped_house_costs_the_landlord___16_000_in_fines/