11:40 AM, 7th March 2019, About 6 years ago 25
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Last month, during filming for the next series of ‘Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords’ (due to air on Channel 5 later this year), we carried out an eviction in Cardiff.
Although Landlord Action features in a programme with the term ‘rogue landlord’ in the title, I’m a little tired of the phrase being bandied about so freely in the press that the adjective ‘rogue’ seems to permanently precede the word ‘landlord’.
There are some ‘bad apples’ out there, as there are in any industry, but the phrase ‘rogue landlord’ is now used so heavily that it is starting to tar every landlord with the same brush, when in fact statistically there are far fewer rogue landlords than rogue tenants!
This account by one of my landlords that illustrates this point very well – Stuart Haines, from Cardiff, recently instructed Landlord Action to gain possession of his property. Here is his story:
“Waiting at the front door to our flat with the bailiff and locksmith in front of us was a very anxious moment. The bailiff was knocking on the door to see if the tenant was still living in our property. We had been verbally told that the lady may have mental health issues, so we didn’t know what to expect if she did come to the door. As it turned out, she wasn’t in and so the locksmith had to break the lock so that we could gain entry. Sadly, we were not prepared for what was behind the door!
Forgive the cliché, but as we walked into our flat it truly was like a bomb had gone off. If this had been a one-off investment and my only flat, I think I would have broken down in tears at the state of the place and I feel for any landlord who has found themselves in this position. The bedroom was covered in feathers, there were quilts and piles of clothes covering the floor, the bed was broken and pushed against the wall, the bedroom door was also smashed on the floor and the wardrobe doors had hammer holes all over them.
In the bathroom, the sink was shattered, the bath unusable, the toilet was full to the brim, the tiles on the wall all had hammer holes indented and the floor was again covered with rubbish. We had to wade through piles of clothes and personal photos covering the hall way floor.
Into the front room there were bags of rubbish and clothes piled all over a small sofa in the corner where we believe the tenant slept. There were hundreds of cigarette stubs all over the floor and black writing on the walls. The kitchen was indescribable – let’s just say the whole kitchen is going to have to be ripped out, re-tiled, a new floor laid, and all new white goods installed. We are just in disbelief someone could possibly live like this.
Aside from the distress at seeing something you have worked so hard for treated in this way, the finance side of this situation for some people could completely break the bank. We have:
Our tenant was in receipt of housing benefit which at first was not a problem, the money came straight to us. However, then the tenant was required to take some papers into the council offices, which she failed to do. This meant that all of a sudden our rent payments were suspended until the tenant produced the paperwork.
We are at a loss as to why as the landlord we were penalised when we continued to house the tenant. As a result of this experience, we have now decided not to let any of our properties through councils. I have also heard of a number of landlords with similar experiences who have taken the same decision.
We are in a fortunate enough position that we have a property portfolio to buffer some of the expense we are going to incur and since we are builders, the condition of the flat does not put us off. However, I believe for many an experience such as this would break them mentally and financially – something has to be done.”
Being a landlord in today’s market, with added tax liabilities, greater regulation and increased costs, is challenging enough. It’s not just a case of buying a property, sticking a tenant in and waiting for the value of the property and rents to go up. Sustaining and maintaining a tenancy is harder than ever in today’s private rental sector.
Yes, there are some criminal landlords, and I am pleased that powers of enforcement to enable local authorities to tackle the real ‘rogues’ are increasing. The government recently announced that they are providing £2.4 million to 60 local authorities, which will assist with further training and appointing more environmental officers on the ground.
But, is what happened to Stuart’s property not criminal activity? If you walked into a restaurant and trashed it, it would be! The government’s recent decision that all landlords will be required to belong to a redress scheme will be welcomed by the majority of landlords. It will help landlords exonerate themselves from the term ‘rogue’, but I hope it will also help landlords have redress against tenants.
When you hear a story like Stuart’s, losing the best part of £25,000 thanks to a tenant trashing the property and not paying rent, it’s easy to see why landlords feel they are currently not being given the protection they need.
Specialists in tenant eviction and debt collection. Regulated by The Law Society.
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Philip Savva
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Sign Up8:58 AM, 10th March 2019, About 6 years ago
So it’s a criminal offence already? As well may be, but I would like to know if any landlord out there whom has reported to the boys in blue, if they have had a successful prosecution, I doubt it very much? The law is not interested, I have been told it’s a civil matter
TheMaluka
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Sign Up9:07 AM, 10th March 2019, About 6 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Philip Savva at 10/03/2019 - 08:58
Just read the first page of the Criminal Damage Act; there is no doubt that deliberate damage by a tenant is a criminal act.
Destroying or damaging property.
(1)A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence.
(2)A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property, whether belonging to himself or another—
(a)intending to destroy or damage any property or being reckless as to whether any property would be destroyed or damaged; and
(b)intending by the destruction or damage to endanger the life of another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would be thereby endangered;
shall be guilty of an offence.
(3)An offence committed under this section by destroying or damaging property by fire shall be charged as arson.
Philip Savva
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Sign Up9:28 AM, 10th March 2019, About 6 years ago
Ok, good to know! Thank you
Cathie
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Sign Up13:55 PM, 10th March 2019, About 6 years ago
In my experience the police said that they couldn’t prove that the tenant had caused the damage! It could have been done by someone else!
TheMaluka
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Sign Up14:17 PM, 10th March 2019, About 6 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Cathie Hawkins at 10/03/2019 - 13:55
I know, frustrating isn't it! Even when we have CCTV of an individual damaging the common areas it is never quite good enough for a prosecution.
Neil Patterson
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Sign Up9:09 AM, 11th March 2019, About 6 years ago
This is a response Paul Shamplina got from who he assumes is a tenant to this article!
How on earth a brain dead landlord would let to the council in the first place for DSS is beyond me. They were obviously asking for this issue in the first place... 1. Letting out with a leasehold, 2. not ensuring paperwork was filed, 3. turning a blind eye to the council, 4. Overriding the reference system, 5. Overriding the injection of any possible contract clauses...
You have no one to blame but yourself!
You can't expect any sort of assistance or sympathy for not adhering to the countless policies and checklists in this field in this day and age.
By the way, don't you dare blame the government, the only reason why taxes increase is because cash strapped wannabes milked the system in the past to fund their latte drinking habits and self finance another IO BTl just to boast to their friends about their ever increasing 'portfolio'.
You play with fire and you get burnt. I would advise anyone dumb enough to end up in this situation to urgently surrender their landlord permit and work a day job. Don't hide behind the phrase; i have a buffer or contingency because posting a 30k+ loss on a leasehold is absolutely pathetic in every sense of the word. What a Disgusting landlord.
TheMaluka
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Sign Up9:41 AM, 11th March 2019, About 6 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Neil Patterson at 11/03/2019 - 09:09
Hence many landlords will no longer take Benefit tenants.
Freda Blogs
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Sign Up12:16 PM, 11th March 2019, About 6 years ago
So it's the landlord's fault that the tenant failed to produce papers for benefit payment, stopped paying the rent and trashed the place. Really?? I don't get that logic - if that's what it is....
Appalled Landlord
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Sign Up12:31 PM, 11th March 2019, About 6 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Neil Patterson at 11/03/2019 - 09:09
“Disgusting” is a strange way to describe a landlord who is at least £25,000 out of pocket due to the actions of a tenant on housing benefit. Greg Beales, a director of Shelter, recently described discrimination against tenants on housing benefit as a “disgusting practice”. https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/housing-benefit-renting-no-dss-shelter/
Paul, did Greg Beales write the letter?
Rosanne Turvey
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Sign Up12:31 PM, 11th March 2019, About 6 years ago
This also happened to me. My tenant was over £3,000 in arrears - this was due to the fact that she had to take some information into the council for her housing benefit to continue and she hadn't bothered to do it. I was being paid direct by the council at the time and at first I wasn't too worried that I had to wait for the rent, but after a length of time I telephoned the council to see what was happening and they told me they were still waiting for some information from her. I expressed my concern that I was now owed a large amount of money and was worried that she could ask for the rent to be paid direct to her at any time and I would lose it all. I was informed in no uncertain terms that she would not be allowed to be paid any back rent as it was owed to me, the landlord, and that if she did request that the rent be paid to her in future then this would only take effect after I had been paid the rent that was owed up until that date. So guess what? The following week a letter from the council arrived (on a Saturday so that I was left all weekend not being able to do anything about it) which told me that all the rent arrears had now been paid in full to my tenant! I was horrified and telephoned first thing on Monday morning only to be told that no-one could speak to me as my tenant had left instructions that the council were not to communicate with me and give me no information! I insisted that I needed to speak to an officer and was eventually allowed to do so. He informed me that my tenant had been into the offices with the information required, along with a letter from me and signed by me telling them that I was quite happy for her to be given all the rent arrears. This had been done by a CHAPS payment and I was told that I would have to get the arrears from the tenant. To cut a long story short it was proved that the tenant had forged my signature, they hadn't done a log of my telephone call although they had proof that I'd rung but to get my money back I had to go through a complaints procedure. No criminal action was taken against the tenant for forging my signature and of course she'd 'done a runner' as soon as she'd got the back payment of rent. Lesson learnt - I never rent to anyone claiming housing benefit. Oh and of course before she left she'd trashed the house.