Landlord Law Newsround #407

Here we are at another Newsround, what has been in the news this week?

Protect your properties from Property Title Fraud

Landlords are being encouraged to sign up to the HM Land Registry’s free Property Alert Service which lets landlords monitor up to ten properties, it monitors for any suspicious activity advises if someone applies for change of ownership and it will send alert messages and six monthly reports.

Rental homes are more susceptible to fraud as landlords do not live at the property making it easier for the fraudster to intercept paperwork and use false identities.

In recent years there has been a reduction of people using this free facility. But in the last 12 months this service has prevented more than £59million of fraudulent property transactions.

You can register here for free.

High percentage of landlords have no out of hours maintenance support

A very high proportion of landlords, 57%, have no emergency out of hours support or back up for maintenance of urgent tenant calls in a recent survey carried out by Adiuvo, a property management company. Furthermore 10% have limited cover at other specific times.

Reasons to justify this are some landlords prefer to deal with calls themselves (59%) or they feel that it is not necessary (29%). Others claim high costs (12%) or that they cannot find a reliable out of hours service (2%). This is concerning because 81.3% of calls from tenants happen outside of normal 9-5 working hours.

Colin Stokes Adiuvo managing Director said

There are an awful lot of landlords out there who don’t yet have out-of-hours cover, and this leaves them exposed to unmediated late-night issues in their properties which can destroy their relationship with their tenants, and even lead to expensive property damage.

Those landlords with out of hours support (61%) rely on their letting agent or a private contractor (34%) only 6% use a dedicated private out of hours company.

Rogue landlord pays high penalty for illegal eviction

A court has awarded a tenant £53,000 in damages after her landlord forcibly evicted her with no notice or the correct paperwork in place, and caused extensive damage. This followed a long chain of events where the landlord had blocked her access and repeatedly targeted her.

The tenant was awarded £14,760 for damaged possessions and £38,250 for days the tenant was made homeless by the landlord.

Duncan Lewes Solicitors who acted for the tenant said

Taking matters into your own hands not only violates tenants’ rights, but can result in serious financial penalties and legal consequences. This case is a stark warning: always respect due process.

Concern grows over allowing pets

Concern is growing and pressure is being put onto the government to give much ‘more clarity and stronger guidance’ on how pets in rental properties can be fairly accommodated.

Irwin Mitchell’s property department say that without clearer guidelines on what is a ‘reasonable’ point to refuse a pet will bring rise to many more disputes and confusion for letting agents who act for their landlords. Landlords could be forced just to avoid tenants with pets generally, which would contravene the whole purpose of the Bill in making renting fairer.

They claim that too much detail is ‘lacking’ on withdrawing consent, and whether the consent resides with one specific pet or to any number of pets. They say

It’s important that government get this part of the Bill right and strong guidance is provided to give clarity on how pets can be accommodated fairly and responsibly in rented homes.

Snippets

Councils resort to planning ‘tactics’ to stop spread of HMOs 
HMRC hits landlords with record £107m in unpaid taxes
The tenant who turned their flat into a cannabis farm
Agency earnings at risk as Renters’ Rights Bill looms, report warns

See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law

Newsround will be back again next week