Another week and another Newsround, let’s see what has caught the eye of the team this week.
Concern grows over courts’ ability to cope
A report out this week by the parliamentary committee that oversees the Ministry of Justice claims that the County Courts is ‘failing to deliver civil justice’. Statistics show that landlords are waiting on average nine months to gain possession of their property.
Whilst the current government say digitising the courts is their priority there are no plans to upgrade the system of enforcement of possession orders.
Richard Atkinson of the Law Society said
Court buildings need repairs, systems and technology must be fit for purpose, and civil legal aid needs urgent investment across all areas.
Others are quoted as saying that the system needs more judges, more bailiffs and faster digitisation all of which are not happening fast enough.
Rent repayment order hits rogue landlord
A rogue landlord has been fined with a £17,574 rent repayment order by the First Tier Tribunal for trying to avoid taking out a license on his hmo property.
He told his tenants to only bath once a week and cook only light meals to keep the utility bills low and under the radar. There were no fire doors, fire alarm systems or emergency exits. He joked to his tenants that they were his ‘wider family’ in order to evade licensing the property. One tenant was evicted because he raised the licensing issue.
The judge rules beyond reasonable doubt that David Shiuh Lin Chou had committed an offence and that he had knowingly tried to avoid licensing the property. Each tenant was awarded 60% of the amount of the claim.
Don’t trust AI – it lies
Following on from my fairly light hearted post on the dangers of AI, is this a more serious post from Nearly Legal blog.
This post gives another example of AI giving false information, obviously to many, many people. The false information being that the law allows council tenants to be evicted to house asylum seekers, which appears at the top of a Google search.
As solicitor Giles Peaker (the post author) says
this is horseshit of the highest order. It is absolutely untrue that council tenants can be evicted in order to house asylum seekers. It is not a ‘complex issue with legal and ethical considerations’, it is a non-existent issue because it cannot legally happen.
Giles goes on to say
… we have to acknowledge the outright risk that lies in apparently confirming a far right fabulation at the top of a Google search. This is quite some way beyond telling you to put glue on your pizza on the scale of hazard.
We are heading into very dangerous territory. This is merely a housing law example of it. But it is very frightening. And it is hard to see how to stop it.
So please be careful when using AI chatbots and double-check everything before relying on it.
Snippets
Landlord slam council for ‘unfair’ approach to licensing fees
Government still concealing Renters Rights Act effect on courts
Big council turns to HMO landlords to help house their homeless
Renters Rights Bill will give draconian powers to councils – claim
Many lettings agents ‘unprepared for renting reforms’
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week
Leave a Reply