This is a worrying blog clinic query from Levi, who is a tenant
I have been renting my room from my landlord for 4 weeks now (this is a pay weekly room). I have completed all of my payments, however this afternoon at about 4pm my landlord came round demanding 8 weeks / 2 months rent by 10am in the morning otherwise he is going to kick me out.
I am pretty sure he is not able to do this, could you please give me some advice on what to do. When I moved in I didn’t sign any agreements or anything however it clearly stated on his advert that there is no deposit necessary. He hasn’t got a reason for doing this as I have asked him.
I have rang up the housing officer and he didn’t help me at all, he just said that I have to go to the council and present my self as being homeless and didn’t let me get a word in on the phone.
Well Levi, if you have a tenancy of your room, and it sounds as if you might have, your landlord is not allowed to do this – the only way he is legally entitled to evict you is after obtaining a court order for possession. Which generally takes several months.
However having this right is not a lot of help at the time, if your landlord is physically evicting you and chucking your things out in the street.
It is I know hard to find someone to help in this situation. The person who is supposed to assist is the housing officer at your Local Authority – if he does not help then you may be a bit stuck. You could try to find a solicitor who does housing work but they are a bit thin on the ground.
Maybe the best way to find someone local is to ring Shelterline on 0808 800 4444, or try to get an appontment with your local Citizens Advice Bureau (making it clear that you have a housing problem so will need someone with housing experience).
Does anyone else have any suggestions?
If at all possible, do not let the landlord or his representatives into your room, to prevent the eviction happening. Call the police on 999 who should issue a warning to your evictor. However, if there is the threat of violence, you should remove yourself from the situation by leaving peacefully. At the earliest opportunity, telephone the police or the council and explain that you have been illegally evicted. They will make arrangements for you to return to the property, or if this is not possible, the council should provide temporary accommodation while the matter is resolved.
Sometimes the police are not keen to get involved, claiming it to be a civil matter. It is not, it is a criminal matter, and their responsibility. If you have the opportunity to, it would be wise to telephone the police *before* the matter becomes critical to ensure that they will treat any such request with due dilligence. If you can not get agreement that it is a police mater from the person you speak to, ask to be refered up to a senior officer. When you speak to the senior officer, refer to this report http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/07/illegal-eviction-and-the-police/ and if you meet with resistance, threaten to take the matter to the Independant Police Complaints Commission. If you do have to go to the IPCC they usually act very quickly. http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/
If the landlord is prosecuted, a first time offence is dealt with in the Magistrates Court the maximum penalty is a fine of £5000 / 6 months imprisonment. Major cases would be transferred to the Crown Court where these limitations do not apply. In addition to this, it is possible for the evictee to claim damages from the landlord in the civil courts. These damages can be considerable.
These links give examples of the punishments/penalties imposed on landlords who illegally evict:
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Nottingham-landlord-fined-163-62-000/article-1689339-detail/article.html
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/06/a-bumper-pack-of-unlawful-eviction-updates-from-legal-action/
This makes me feel ill…. how can you treat anyone like that? I do understand there are 2 sides to every story but Levi seems to have explained his situation clearly and it seems straightforward. Is there some other reason his landlord could be taking this approach, if his rent is up to date and he isn’t doing anything illegal in the property I am at a loss to understand this.
What bothers me is that there is nothing we can say that is going to help him right now. It’s all very well saying that you could go to Court and claim this and that but who really wants to get involved in a Court case. I do feel for him.
Perhaps somehow the message needs to go out that a landlord needs to at least belong to an association, or Landlord Law in order to rent property. I put in my ads that I am a ‘member of NLA and Landlord Law’ (I hope that’s OK with you, Tessa!) so that my prospective tenants know that I take my role seriously.
Sorry I could not offer anything more helpful, Levi.
Levi when you say ‘Housing officer’ this is quite confusing as a housing officer is a a person who manages council and housing association stock. So I cant tell who you spoke to.
A housing adviser would have been more approriate but even then, any housing adviser should know that is likely (I am presuming certain facts here by your occupation of a single room) that you may not be elgible for homelessness assistance anyway. Direct intervention is the way forward, at the very least a phone call from them on your behalf to the landlord to warn him off.
An injunction would also be a good route, not as complex as it would seem and only £175 court cost, or free if you are on benefits. I do these several times a month but I know not all council advisers do it.
If ytou cant find decent assistance from your council take Tessa’s advice and contact shelter or a local law centre if you are lucky enough to have one of these increasingly rare creatures in your area.
David suggests pressurising the Police, which in theory should work but in practice I have always found the police to be as much help as a rubber razor-blade in these matters.
And @Yvette,its sad but I get between 5 or 10 complaints like this every single working day, either over the phone or by people dropping into our office. In that, Shelters campaign on this hidden but large area of work identifies the problem accurately but it is in the sheer numbers of complaints that people in my line of work are defeated before we start. While you are dealing with Levi’s complaint there is another waiting in reception with the same problem and another who has been told to come back at 2pm to see you.