Category Archives: Rogue Landlords

HMO Landlord Fined for Unsafe, Overcrowded and Unlicensed Luton Property

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Another HMO Landlord added to our “rogue Landlord” feature, a useful guide of how not to go about managing a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) and multi let portfolio.

HMO Landlord Khaled Ahmed, 36, failed to attend Luton Magistrates Court on 15 October where he was ordered to pay nearly £53,000 for operating an unlicensed, unsafe and overcrowded House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO).

This Luton HMO Landlord has gone for the hat-trick by managing a unsafe, overcrowded and unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and following a number of complaints from tenants living at the property at 35 Dunraven Avenue, officers from the Council’s Private Sector Housing team carried out an inspection of the eight-bedroom, four-storey house where a number of health and safety breaches were found the most serious being structure altered internally causing a number of potentially fatal fire safety hazards.

This rogue HMO Landlord provided poorly sub-divided rooms to gain additional smaller bedrooms so more people could live there. One bedroom measured just five square metres as well as a young female student living in the attic space, which could only be accessed by an unstable staircase, without windows, ventilation or heating. Other hazards related to obstructed fire exits, accumulations of rubbish, lack of fire doors, and lack of fire alarms and disrepair to the property.

The Magistrate described the property as a ‘death trap’ run for commercial gain and convicted Mr Ahmed for all breaches.

Mr Ahmed was fined £15,000 for failing to licence the property, a further £4,000 for each of the nine breaches of the Management of House in Multiple Occupation Regulations 2006 which totalled a further £36,000 and a £15 victim surcharge. The Council was also awarded £1,957 costs. Total fines and costs amounted to £52,957 which is one of the highest fines recorded in Luton.

As a further consequence the tenants can apply to the Residential Property Tribunal for a Rent Repayment Order to claim back all rent paid for the past 12 months.

When handing out the fines, the Court also took into account that Mr Ahmed had taken over £22,500 in rent and deposits from tenants.

Cllr Tom Shaw, Portfolio Holder for housing, said: “This is one of the worse cases we have ever seen with tenants being subjected to dangerous and potentially life threatening conditions. What makes it worse is that the actions of the landlord were deliberate and purely for commercial gain.

“I am glad that  substantial fines were imposed, as this serves as a strong warning to any other landlord who thinks they can get away with this illegal behaviour. HMOs need to be licensed to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of the occupants and to prevent them living in overcrowded conditions with insufficient facilities.”

“The Council takes the condition of the private rented sector very seriously and we have recently embarked on a programme of inspecting all Houses in Multiple Occupation within Luton. We will not hesitate to take further court action should any other offences be committed.”

Anyone living near or knowing of such a property which they believe to be an unlicensed HMO should contact the council on 01582 54 72 22 or email HMO.Hotline@luton.gov.uk.

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

You can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@RoomsInCardiff.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

Swansea HMO Landlord: License Properties or Face Fines

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Two Swansea HMO Landlords have received heavy fines by magistrates after failing to license their respective House of Multiple Occupation (HMO)

Fines of more than £9,000 were handed out to Huw Rees Davies of Llangennech, Llanelli and Mark Gethin Harris of Mildenhall, Suffolk.  Both defendants failed to obtain licenses for their House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) after several reminders from the council.

Mr Davies, appeared before Cardiff Magistrates and was fined a total of £1,450 in relation to two properties at William Street and Clarence Street. He pleaded guilty to a total of 15 offences including failure to license an HMO at one property and breaching licensing conditions at another.

Mr Harris appeared before Swansea Magistrates and pleaded guilty to 12 offences linked to a house at Chaddesley Terrace. They included failure to license an HMO and failure to comply with Management Regulations. He was fined a total of £8,000.

Swansea Council is now urging landlords who rent out Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in the city to check if they need a licence.

The Council was awarded a total of £2,193 costs for both cases.

Mark Child, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, said: “Tenants in private rented accommodation in Swansea need to be reassured that the property they are living in is safe and is maintained to an acceptable standard.

“The licensing scheme we have in place helps to verify that landlords are carrying out their responsibilities to provide good quality accommodation.

“We will continue to prosecute anyone who fails to license their property when they are required to. If landlords are unsure whether they need a licence they can contact the Council for advice.”

Swansea HMO landlords must acquire an HMO Licence and manage their property in accordance with the HMO Management Regulations.

There are around 2000 HMOs in Swansea, many of which are located in the two central wards of Castle and Uplands.

All HMOs in Castle and Uplands need to be licensed. HMOs in other areas require a licence if there are three or more floors and five or more occupants.

Landlords in Swansea can visit Swansea Council’s website for help and advice about licensing an HMO. Visit www.swansea.gov.uk/hmos  or phone 01792 635600.

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

You can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@webletz.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

Cardiff HMO Landlord fined for Management Breaches

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A Cardiff HMO Landlord has been successfully prosecuted by Cardiff Council following breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations (Wales) 2006.

The landlord, Mr. Yazdan Kayhanian of Lake Road West, Cyncoed, Cardiff, was fined £2000; ordered to pay costs of £950 and a victim surcharge of £15

The house of multiple occupation (HMO) at 116 Richmond Road, Plasnewydd, Cardiff was initially identified to be a shared house in multiple occupation in October 2009. An inspection later revealed failures to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006. However, the landlord advised Cardiff Council officers that the property was shortly to be converted into self-contained flats.

In October 2010, a re-visit identified that the house of multiple occupancy (HMO) had not been converted into flats and remained a shared house. Mr. Kayhanian advised the case officer that the conversion would take place during the summer of 2011.

 

In February 2012, a further visit confirmed that the property was still a shared house in multiple occupation and a number of serious failures to comply with the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 were noted.

 

At Cardiff Magistrates Court, District Judge Charles believed that the defendant had deliberately misled the Council into not taking action when he said that he was going to convert the property into flats; that he had made a misleading statement that Keylet were responsible for the management of the property and that he had deliberately attempted to mislead the Council again by getting the tenants to sign a letter accepting some of the blame. The District Judge told the defendant that he was the ‘author of your own misfortunes’; that he was unscrupulous and that he took advantage of the fact that the tenants were students.

 

Mr. Kayhanian was found guilty of all of the charges against him. These were:

 

Offence contrary to Regulation 7 of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 – failure to ensure that all common parts of the house are maintained in good and clean decorative repair and in a safe and working condition and kept reasonably clear from obstruction.

Offence contrary to Regulation 8 of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 – failure to ensure that in relation to each part of the house that is used as living accommodation that the internal structure is maintained in good repair and any fixtures and fittings are maintained in good repair and in clean working order

Offence contrary to Regulation 5 of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 – failure to ensure that the drainage system serving the house is maintained in good, clean and working condition in that the gully to the annex side elevation was blocked and overflowing

Offence contrary to Regulation 4(2) of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 – failure to ensure that any fire fighting equipment and alarms are maintained in good working order

Offence contrary to Regulation 4(1) of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Wales) Regulations 2006 – failure to ensure that all means of escape from fire are maintained in good order and repair

 

Councillor Lynda Thorne, Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Housing and Social Justice, said:

 

“We know that there are lots of good landlords in Cardiff who manage their properties well and comply with legal requirements. We want to encourage those landlords and assure them and tenants living in HMOs that we will take appropriate legal action, including prosecution, for those who fail to comply with the law.”

 

“Our approach is to work with private landlords in order to help them meet the standards that are expected of them. We can offer a range of support including advice, an accreditation scheme, help with finding suitable tenants, help with deposits and rent advances, and property checks. But we are also clear that where landlords do not meet acceptable standards, then we will act.”

 

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

 

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

You can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@webletz.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

ASBO HMO landlord fined for breach of fire regulations

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The UK’s first residential landlord to be served with an ASBO has been found guilty of failing to comply with fire regulations at a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

The ASBO HMO landlord, Catherine Boyle, 59 of 14 Iverson Road, London NW6 was convicted at Highbury Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 6 November.

The defendant was found guilty for failing to carry out works specified in an improvement notice from Camden Council and four breaches of fire-related House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) regulations.

Boyle also breached her HMO licence by providing her tenants with non-fire retardant furniture.

The UK’s first ASBO landlord was fined £3,600 and ordered to pay Camden’s costs of £4,459.60. Boyle must pay the sum within four months. A failure to carry out works could see her prosecuted again by the authority.

The council had served an improvement notice on Boyle in April 2011, requiring her to carry out extensive works to rectify serious hazards by November last year.

When Camden’s inspectors paid a visit in January this year, the work had not been completed.

The council gave the defendant more time to comply. However, in May this year inspectors found that the fire detection and alarm system were not connected to a power supply, fire doors were inadequate and furniture was still non fire-retardant.

The house of multiple occupancy (HMO) also had poor thermal efficiency and windows “in a terrible state of repair,” Camden said.

The ASBO, lasting for two years, was obtained at Highbury Magistrates’ Court in January 2011.

Under the order, Boyle is prohibited from causing harassment, alarm or distress to her tenants, entering their rooms without consent, and cutting off their gas and electricity supply.

Camden’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Julian Fulbrook, said: “We inspect all our HMOs regularly to make sure they comply with all health and safety regulations so that tenants are safe in their homes. In the most serious cases we have the power to revoke an HMO licence and take over the running of the properties ourselves.”

Rooms in Cardiff provide services to landlords across Cardiff and South Wales who own a house of multiple occupation (HMO), Multi Let property, Student Housing or a professional house share and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

Alternatively you can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@webletz.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.