A day in the life of TRO Ben Reeve Lewis.
The case of the 800 foot long Hoe…..
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.
So this woman appears in the interview room with her partner and 3 kids telling me that their landlord has moved into the property with them, sleeping on the settee because he claims he has nowhere else to go. The family understandably are miffed.
* Legal Point: If this is true and the tenants have the property to themselves then the landlord is not allowed in the property and can be removed. The usual way is to get an injunction against him ordering him to move out, which we usually do on the tenant’s behalf.
The woman is doing all the talking and she has a curious voice, sounding like Joe Pasquale being strangled…….and why not? Also, to say she makes Paris Hilton seem like an intellectual is being very, very kind……
Like everyone she is looking to get rehoused by the council, which is not my job.
After listening to her witter on for 30 minutes about how out of order the landlord is and what a terrible imposition it all is I tell her that I will help her go to court and get an injunction to have him removed.
To which she replies “Oooooh I don’t want to do that”. I ask her why and she says “Well he’s my husband!!!!!”.
It turns out the man she is in the room with is her boyfriend and the estranged Hubby owns the house they are renting.
She rambles on about how she cant possibly live there anymore and wants a council house ……..don’t they all?????? . The conversation goes like this:-
Ms Hilton: I’ll take a council house anywhere
Me: That’s fine but that’s not what I do, that’s another department altogether.
MH: I don’t care where it is
Me: That’s as may be, its nothing to do with me
MH: I’ll go to the Notorious Estate if necessary
Me: Fine you may well end up there
MH: I don’t care. I’ll take a tower block…..a tower block even on the notorious estate.
Me: (exasperated) GOOD , you may well end up there. Rehousing is not what I do.
MH: Even the 14th floor!!!!! I’ll take a 14th floor flat on the Notorious Estate.
Me: OKAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!
MH: I’ll take a 14th floor flat……….just so long as I’ve got a garden!!!…………
…………It’s the weeding that will be the problem methinks.
Ben Reeve-Lewis
About Ben Reeve-Lewis: Ben has worked in housing in one form or another since 1987. He has variously been a Homelessness caseworker, Head of Homelessness for a local authority, a Tenancy Relations Officer and Housing law trainer. He now divides his time between doing contract Tenancy Relations work and as a Freelance housing law training consultant for the CIH, Shelter, Sitra and many more.