Two kinds of law It is not always appreciated by non lawyers that there are two kinds of law. Civil law and Criminal law. Civil law – is a complicated system which tries to set out rules to cover all the sorts of situation that may arise in life, and provides for disputes to be…
If you are evicting your tenant for unpaid rent – is it worth bothering about trying to collect the rent arrears? When I am instructed by landlords in eviction proceedings, they often find it difficult to comprehend that their rent may never be paid. But the reality is, that in the vast majority of cases,…
I had an email from a reader the other day, who had a strange tale to tell. He has recently moved into a shared house in Manchester. On the day he moved in, his landlord informed him that there were hidden security cameras in the kitchen and in the hallways of the property. Also the…
A different definition of HMOs Did you know that the definition of an HMO for council tax is different from the one that is used for licensing and similar purposes under the Housing Act 2004. The definition is in Regulation 2 Council Tax (Liability for Owners) Regulations 1992. This states: The following are the classes…
After the Foxtons case, many landlords wondered how the courts would treat renewal commission clauses in landlords contracts with their letting agents. A recent case reported in the Legal Action Magazine is interesting. The case is Chesterton Global Ltd v. Finney, Lambeth County Court, 30 April 2010 (it has been previously reported on the Pain…
A day in the life of TRO Ben Reeve Lewis. The case of the missing landlords. Explanation: Tenancy Relations Officers (TROs) work for local council’s providing advice on landlord tenant law and investigating allegations of harassment and Illegal Eviction and prosecuting landlords. All names are false but the stories are true. Mr and Mrs Perkins…
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Landlord wins compensation claim against surveyor
I was interested to see in the Observer on Sunday, a report about Emmett Scullion, a buy-to-let landlord, who has won £72,000 compensation from a surveyor who overestimated the rental income the landlord’s property would generate. However although this is a worrying decision for surveyors, it doesn’t mean that landlords can now go out and…