Here is a question to the blog clinic from Angela (not her real name) who is a landlord
If you have been accused by your tenant of harassment/spoiling quiet enjoyment in an email from them (but nothing received as yet from any lawyer) and you have some minor maintenance requirements which are planned in (& which he has complained about) (but no management company) are you allowed to continue communicating with your tenant on a professional level ie just to advise proposed dates for the work?
Providing you stick strictly to business and are very professional – is that a problem?
Answer
It will be necessary for you to communicate with them while they are tenants. As you say there will be maintenance issues.
Tenants are not entitled to prevent all communication with their landlord (and by implication forcing them to incur the expense of using letting agents) by alleging harassment.
However in view of this claim (particularly if it is true) you should be VERY careful how you deal with them, always be polite and ideally communicate by letter or email only.
If possible you should avoid making visits to the property unless accompanied by someone who can act as a witness should any problems arise.
Spend the money on an agent, folks. It makes so much sense.
Angela, as someone who prosecutes landlords for harassment for a living, in the circumstances you cite I wouldn’t even leave the office. Harassment is very difficult to prove, unless it’s of the baseball bat or threats kind. TROs like myself receive countless complaints of harassment all week but we need a good enough case to get it through the courts and the first step is to try and negotiate an end to the activities. Everyone I’ve successfully prosecuted for harassment was well in the frame, no remorse and bang to rights. Mounting a criminal case is one hell of a task and not to be undertaken without a mass of pre-work and hard evidence of a breach.