Most landlords (including myself!) are legitimate businessmen and women who provide well-maintained accommodation and charge a fair rent. And then there are the rogue landlords. Rogue landlords operate in lots of different ways. Some try and save money by failing to keep their properties in a habitable condition; others threaten their tenants with violence.
Thankfully, the long arm of the law is there to help stamp out the rogue landlords who give the rest of us a bad name, and just to illustrate my point, I read a story this morning about how one rogue property agent from London has just been fined more than £20,000 for harassing and intimidating the tenants living in one of his properties over a period of more than thirty months.
According to the Evening Standard, tenants complained to the council after the landlord failed to carry out some routine repairs. The landlord took exception to this and sent builders round to the property to disconnect the electricity and water supplies and seal up the letterbox. One tenant also reported that he came home from work to find his belongings had been removed and the locks had been changed, after which he was forced to live in hostel accommodation for five months because he had no money for another deposit.
Kingston Crown Court in Wimbledon, London, took action against the landlord and his property company: he was found guilty of harassment and illegal eviction and fined £20,561. Following the successful prosecution, the local council have now issued a warning to other landlords that unlawful behaviour against innocent tenants will not be tolerated.
