Evicted :(

[adridude]

Hi Guys,

 

All hell just broke loose, and I don't quite know what to do as there are some strong arm tactics going on here.

 

Here is how it went:

 

Situation: At this stage I was in the single room of a houseshare. The landlord was NOT resident, nor was he ever. He stated that he lived int he attick, which is a farse. All 3 rooms were occupied, and he never once spent the night, nor were there posessions or food in the house of his.

 

April 27th: I contacted police about this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/139233-landlords-missus.html I was being harassed. The police told me if they return and I am intimidated, to contact them. I informed the police personally at the station and made a formal complaint about this.

 

Apr 29: Landlord calls up and asks for rent, I offer to pay by bank transfer, he refuses and asks for cash only. I refuse as I can only draw our £200 at a time. They then say I should draw out £200 a day for 3 days and they will pick it up. I told them 4 days as I had to do shopping.

 

May 3rd (afternoon): Landlord comes around, I pay rent in cash excluding £20 he asked for bills. I offered to pay this at a laster date as I didnt have it on me. He took th cash, wrote a recepit out (on a scrap of paper) and refused to give me a proper recepit. I also signed a new contract for the large room. The landlord said he was in a hurry, wouldnt discuss the contract and that I ahd to sign it there or leave it and pushed me to sign it as he was about to walk away with the contract leaving me with nothing. When they left, I noticed that notice had changed from 4 weeks to 2 weeks, and that the contract date was wrong. I called back and they agreed to return that night and change the contract accordingly.

 

May 3rd (night): landlord comes around and demands I pay £15 a week (over and above contract) as he wants a cleaner to start working there (for which there was no need). I refused and didnt pay him. I left the property, contacted the police as the moment got heated and was told 'this is a civil matter, there is nothing we can do'. At this point, I left the property, went down the pub and vanished for the night to stay out the way.

 

May 3rd (late night): Returned home to a slip notifying me that my residency was going to end in 2 weeks.

 

May 4th: I threatened the landlord with allsorts of civil action etc...

 

May 6th (early): Landlord returns with his girlfriend who doesnt like me. She starts an abusive arguement, I call her a name (standing well back) and she tries to go for me. I try to leave the room, landlord (a bouncer) was standing infront of the door and wouldnt let me leave. I stood back, with my hands behind my back, a bit ****ed too, and said, I cannot talk about this now as I've had a few to drink etc... He carried on taunting me, the girlfriend carried on too. I protested that my arms would remain behind my back as a sure sign of peace (as my housemate was there as witness). I then left the room, on my way out, I slung over m shoulder 'if you return again, I will contact the police as this is physical harassment, I will ahve you removed if i can' and left the area accordingly.

 

May 6th (late night): Knock at my bedroom door to a policeman saying that I am to be evicted immediately by order of the landlord as I am in breach of the contract. The part where I threaten that he cannot return to the hosue. he said that if I did anything to annoy him in my notice that he is allowed to prematurely end the notice?

 

Between then and next i was nto allowed to go to the poperty to retreive my goods as the police removed my keys off of me, the landlord would not answer his phone so I couldnt go to work as I had no clothes nothing!

 

May 11th) I return to the property to get my goods as the landlord agreed that he would only communicate with my father and not me :-\ I dont even have anything to do with my father? But he was next of kin on the contract?!?? I get my property and the landlord stated that he doesnt ahve to pay deposit back for 28 days i.e. until the property has been inspected. Until then, its a guessing game. I then had my father ask for my rent owing and he wouldnt return this either.

 

This is the problem in short.

 

What can I do? I thought that a notice period was a notice period. I also thought that reasonable notice was one 'paymen term' i.e. in my case, 1 month (unless stated otherwise).

 

Also can the police enforce such a civil matter?

 

What do I do about my rent owing? What do I do about my deposit as I believe that because of the vindictiveness of this, I can see them giong on a renevation spree :-\

 

Can anyone help me?

 

i can send you 'censored' copies of my contracts etc... names and addresses will be dubbed out.

 

Cheers,

 

Adridude

[Hobbie]

The police have no right enforcing an eviction, EVEN with a court order, it is still a civil matter, police can be present but only to prevent a BOP, not to assist in the eviction.

 

Report this at once to the Professional Standards Department via the chief constable of the police force.

 

Regarding the other matters, I'm not to sure, but someone will come along and hopefully offer some advice.

[Esio Trot]

I am amazed that you have been made to suffer this way.

 

From what you write the landlord is clearly not resident (as an aside, check the electoral role for the address you live at and the one he gives on the contract - this may show him elsewhere!), thus you have an assured shorthold tenancy. Thus the constable was wrong to assist in the eviction - there was no court order. It matter not a jot what contract you signed - it cannot override statute.

 

I would firstly contact Shelter - they will give you step by step advice. It seem to me that you have a sound case of unlawful eviction. All councils have a tenancy relations/homelessness officer. Get an appointment and print out the chronology of events like you have done in your post.

 

You should have a good case for unlawful eviction. I am aware of a case at the turn of this decade where the landlord was found guilty of unlawful eviction. As far as I remember the judge had ordered an open market property valuation, then with assured tenants. He said the former was £90K and the latter £67K, and awarded the tenants the difference in compensation. The downside was that it took getting on for two years for the case to come to court.

[Esio Trot]

The police have no right enforcing an eviction, EVEN with a court order, it is still a civil matter, police can be present but only to prevent a BOP, not to assist in the eviction.

 

Just to clarify, if a bailiffs warrant has been issued and there is resistance, the bailiff will ask for a constable to enforce the eviction - by physical force if needed.

[waterbottle]

This sounds dodgy as ****. The police especially. I am astounded. Did you get the policeman's details?

 

The problem you are in as regards getting anything done is this. No one gives a toss. All the different government agencies and appeals proceedures are designed to nullify your complaint until nothing gets done. From now on, if you carry on with this, you need to do everything in writing. Not too difficult if you have email. Phone calls enable lazy people to get away with failing to act on your behalf.

 

Oh, and the police will lie about almost anything in person. Most council employees too. Then they will twist and manipulate to avoid doing anything. But harassment is a criminal offence. It needs to happen more than once to be acted upon by them. There needs to be a 'course of conduct'. I have written 4 letters and called 999 twice because of my agents. NOTHING from the police.

 

A few questions:

 

Have you sorted out your current housing situation?

 

Are you prepared to fight this? Be advised that it may get nasty. It sounds to me like your landlord knew that policeman.

 

How much evidence have you got in writing? If a lot relies on what you know for fact but cannot prove easily, it will be doubly hard.

 

Did they register your deposit in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme and notify you of this? This is important as you may have an automatic claim for an anount equal to 3x the total deposit.

 

Are you on a low income? I ask this because things would be much easier with a solicitor. Legal aid would be very helpful.

 

Let us know!

[waterbottle]

Also, which area are you in? If you're anywhere near me (London) tell me and we can go and put the police officer under citizens arrest for fraud or whatever. Don't know what yet. I am DYING to do this.

[Hobbie]

Just to clarify, if a bailiffs warrant has been issued and there is resistance, the bailiff will ask for a constable to enforce the eviction - by physical force if needed.

 

Yes, a bailiff can ask for police to be present during the eviction, but ONLY to ensure a Breach of the Peace does not occur, nothing else, police have no powers in civil matters.

 

It is the bailiffs job to evict you, if you remain calm and do not act agressive in anyway, and do not breach the peace, the police have no power.

 

Although if it is likely that any of your actions could lead to a BOP, the police can arrest you to prevent the BOP from occurring, and a BOP can occur any where, even inside a property.

 

Breach of the Peace is a "we've nothing else to arrest for" law (common law) and is similar to the Public Order Act 1994, the only difference is the POA only comes into play in a public place.

[adridude]

Hoobie: I contacted the police and started a complaints procedure about them intervening in an eviction when they were only supposed to stand by and prevent BOP

 

Esio Trot: This is where the problem is, the landlord said that he was a live in landlord, his bank statements etc... get sent to the property, but he never once slept in the house nor did he have food there. My housemates (and previous housemates evicted in the same way will too)

 

Have a look at my contract and eviction letters etc....

1) Page1: http://www.nethersys.com/contract.jpg

2) Page2: http://www.nethersys.com/contract2.jpg

3) Immediate Eviction the Police Enforced: http://www.nethersys.com/eviction.jpg

 

None of the eviction points are true. That property IS only my residence :-\ What else could it be LOL Also, rent was offered in time by way of bank transfer but they wanted cash and suggested that I draw out £200 a day (cash mchine) till I have enough (took 3 days)

 

Esio Trot: There were no court orders, baliffs etc.... Only the landlord and the police...

 

waterbottle: Yep, I wouldn't be shocked if the cop did him a favour as he was called out from maidstone and my landlord works there as a bouncer. Personal favour perhaps? But thats speculation...

i) Council said I had no rights as it's all civil and I need to contest this in court

ii) Shelter said the same due to my tenancy type

iii) Tax evasion hotline were pleased to hear from me lol

 

Anyway, answers to your questions:

 

- Yes, housing is kinds sorted, I'm with my parents until I get paid or until he returns my money :-\

 

- Yes, I am prepared to fight for this.

 

- I have it all in writing, but the final receipt went missing from my room. but the copper removed my keys from me and gave them to the landlord so he had access to the property. When I went back to get my items, he made me sign a contract stating that the room wasn't touched. I altered it to say that my final receipt was missing and signed it

 

- Deposit wasnt regiered in TDS because he saw me as an excluded occupier who are excluded from TDS too.

 

- Income, is 16k low on income? Coz lawyers cost an arm, leg and prolly a few fingers too!

 

 

Watterbottle: I was in Sittingbourne. Hell, I'd love to get them done for fraud too, but there isn't really anything to prove is there?

 

Hobbie: I did have a few to drink that night but I was fast asleep when the police knocked on my door. I made it clear that I was going to co-operate all of the way. No Swearing, arguing, argusing etc... I worked with them all the way with them to avoid BOP.

 

Where do I start guys?

[Esio Trot]

He's certainly a crafty so and so, and I can see why you are getting the cold shoulder from the council and shelter: they are relying on the documentation that plainly states you were a lodger.

 

Thus, before you can do anything else, you need to establish some facts about the owner, and gather evidence that he was and is not a resident landlord. So as a start I would suggest:

 

1. Go onto Land Register Online and download a copy of the title register. It will cost you £3, but it will be worth every penny if he is not listed. It will also show if the place has a mortgage and any restrictions on use. Additionally, it may give an alternative address of the owner. If so, again download this as this may well be his principle place of residence.
   
2. Ideally get statements from other occupants that the owner has never lived there. (They may be reluctant as it may put them in the mire as well, so if you know where they are and can contact former occupants that would be better).
   

I can't stress enough the importance of finding an alternative address for the landlord. If you can do this you are well on the way of proving non-residence. Once you have done this, it becomes unlawful eviction, which is a criminal matter.

 

Another way of doing this if the Land Registry reveals nothing is to make a note of his car registration number. Again for a few pounds you can fill in a form and ask of the name and address of the registered keeper.

 

You'll need to be a bit like a private detective. Ask neighbours as well if they know where he lives, or if they know if he owns other properties. Where did you find the property advertised? Put the number he gave into search engines, and again it may highlight an advert for another property. Get a friend to phone him. Get them to ask if "the let" is still available. If the owner says "which one" say "don't know I don't have the advert - what's available and I will probably remember?"

 

Let us know how you get on.

[poochball]

Subscribing.

 

This sounds awful. I hope you get it sorted.

[waterbottle]

Any progress as yet Adridude?

[adridude]

None at the moment. I'm waiting patiently for the '28 days' to end to see what he gives back to me. From there I'll be kicking off the game.

 

I've got a feeling that he knows that he is in the wrong and the only way he can get back to me is by keeping my funds as long as possible.

 

Also I wanted to ask:

 

He evicted me on the 6th, but only allowed me to collect my goods on the 11th. Can they charge rent for that week?

 

I will untimately be taking him to court over this as I want full compensation for this.

 

What I want compensation for is:

 

1) 3 x Days off of work as I had no access to clothes

2) The loss of an annual pay increase (2K more ) as I didn't apply for leave during those days as it was unexpected.

3) The inconvenience of spending near to a week on the street and eating out whilst I had perfectly good food in the fridge which subsequently went off or was eaten by other in the house

4) Phonebills as I had to use my mobile to contact polive departments, himself and various other bodies to find out my rights

5) Is there anything else I can slap on this?

 

Cheers,

 

Adrian

[barella]

dont know about compensation but its amazing what you can piece together about people using the internet.

 

i have freaked people out with what i have found (maybe thats why i cant get a date anymore )

 

Search for People, Businesses and Maps - 192.com (electoral and phone book - do you know any other addresses he could possibly be registered to?)

facebook

friends reunited

 

on another note, was he living with his g/f? does she claim any kind of benefit? if he stayed more than 3 nights a week you can report her too.

 

another thought - if he is saying he lived there, was he registered for council tax?

[adridude]

right, I was evicted, the landlord kept the money and isnt talking to me.

 

Gawd im really ground up about this, he tried charging me for half of the house repairs which I mentioned while I was there!

 

What do I do now?

[adridude]

sorry I forgot to mention that he was living with his girlfriend... the 3 tenants occupying the rooms (including myself) can verify that.

 

Yes he was registered for C?T there. 3 tenants, resident over 3 months can verify that he wasnt even there.

[MrShed]

AD can you do me a favour. I am new to this thread. Can you bullet point/sum up? Havent got time to read the full thread I'm afraid. Might then be able to help.

 

Cheers.

[SirHumpy]

Im not an expert, but another couple of points that might help.

 

1 - did the home have fire escape signs, etc - it sounds like it could be considered a home of mulitple ocupancy (as he wasnt living there) - I may be wrong on this one - but a friend managed to get a landlord to take a property to standards required by contacting the tennacy liason officer at the local Council.

 

2 - Do you have any details on the police officer? This one is not so straight forward (I am a little bit more experienced on police matters). BUT if the landlord made a report through regular channels and it wasnt a favour done by the police officer for a friend then there will be a record of the call and a log of what happened may/should have been made. It is your right to be able to just ring the police service concerned and get these deatails as a listed party - or if the service get arsey you may have to write to get them.

 

If you get messed around write a formal complaint to the chief constable(really important to actually say its a formal compaint!) - check the police services website - they have to reply and investiagte all complaints to national issued standards. Send the letter by registered post, and keep the slip safe.

 

However thanks to the above mentioned acts the officer does have lots of scope to get out of trouble. He could simply say the landlord feared for their safety so they asked you to leave to prvent a breach of the peace - and you did so - he merely supervised this for him. On the other hand there wont be much scope for this if the call wasnt logged - that is if the officer in question was just out doing a favour for a friend (unlikely this will have went through the control room in this case) - also you suggest he might have been out of his area? - again you need the officers name or details - without this the service will just shrug their shoulders.

 

Good luck!

[MrShed]

My opinion of this thread. I think you will struggle to prove unlawful eviction, as it sounds like the property is his PPR (principal primary residence), even if he was resident at another property almost all the time. This will make it nigh on impossible to prove non residency IMO. That said, have you followed the above posters advice and at least attempted to find proof he was resident elsewhere?

 

I think to be safe on the rest, I will assume you were a lodger.

 

You are owed any rent that you overpaid as a result of your eviction.

You are owed the deposit back, minus any PROVABLE damages. Did you sign an inventory upon entering the property?

 

You are not entitled to compensation for costs for "finding out your rights".

You are entitled to loss of earnings for any days work DIRECTLY lost due to this issue, but ONLY if you can prove unlawful eviction.

You are not entitled to the 2k pay award as compensation, unless you can prove unequivocally that this loss is as a direct result of the landlords actions, and even then only if you can prove unlawful eviction. IMO it isnt, and in fact your employer has been unreasonable here.

 

IF you can claim unlawful eviction, and subsequently claim damages, I think you need to be careful what you claim. Quite frankly, the judge will take a very dim view of claims such as "the eviction cost me a 2 grand pay rise" and "I want back what it cost me to find out my rights" - these are VERY tenuous(in the first instance) or petty and litigious(in the second).

 

Rest assured, that if you CAN prove unlawful eviction, you will be entitled to substantial damages anyway - although I must stress that they will be nothing like to the level mentioned by Esio above, due to the fact that you were definitely not an ASSURED tenant and as such there was no resulting gain in property value in having you evicted.

 

The chances of you gathering proof of unlawful eviction AND then successfully pursuing it IMO are minute. However, you need to pursue it at least initially, as you may then find the chances are much higher with a little research.

 

Without the unlawful eviction side, you are entitled ONLY to the rent and deposit. No compensation of any kind.

 

With regards the HMO(House of Multiple Occupation) issue mentioned above by SirHumpy - it will gain you nothing, so I would suggest leaving this as you have enough to be getting on with! That said, how many people were resident in the property?

 

(By the way SirHumpy, doesnt matter whether the landlord was actually resident in the property or not, it can be classed as an HMO either way).

[MrShed]

You will probably also want to read this:

 

To be classed as a resident landlord, the landlord must:

 

• Use the property as their only or main home (if the landlord only stays in the property very occasionally and has another home elsewhere, they probably won't count as a resident landlord).
  
• Have direct access from their accommodation to the tenant's (A landlord living in a separate flat in the same building as the tenant won't count as a resident landlord; a landlord who has separate rooms in the same house as the tenant will).
  

The landlord does not have to own the property - a tenant could also sublet a room from another tenant who lives in the property, in which case that tenant will become the resident landlord.

Why is it important whether the landlord is resident?

Tenancies which do not have a resident landlord are generally regulated or assured (including assured shorthold), depending whether they were granted before or after 15 January 1989 respectively.There are two main issues where the rights of landlord and tenant differ for resident landlord lets compared with these other types of tenancy:

 

• Rent
  
• Security of tenure
  

Broadly, someone who lets from a resident landlord does not have a right to challenge the level of rent that he or she has agreed to pay, can be given less notice to leave if the landlord wants to end the letting, and in some situations can technically be evicted by the landlord at the end of the notice if he or she refuses to leave.

Resident landlords have this greater freedom to end an arrangement because it is acknowledged that, should the relationship between the landlord and the person he or she lets to breaks down, the landlord is more vulnerable in his or her own home.

How exactly is a landlord considered to be resident in law?

For lettings started since 15 January 1989, the important point is whether you are using the property as an only or principal home, both at the start of the letting and throughout it.

It is accepted that, for short periods, a landlord may not live in the property yet still be considered to be resident: so long as he or she intends to return and this is apparent, for example if he or she has left belongings. However, only a court can say for certain whether a landlord has maintained enough residence in the property to count as a resident landlord: if not, then it is possible that the letting arrangement may be deemed to have become a regulated or assured tenancy, depending whether it first began before or after 15 January 1989. The definition of residence for determining how the landlord must give notice or can evict an occupier is slightly different.

(Ripped from Letting property: Introduction to letting a room)

 

Bearing in mind that for the section which says "only a court can say for certain whether a landlord has maintained enough residence" - you must prove such residence(well, lack thereof) - you cannot rely on the landlord having to prove residence.

 

 

You next two steps should be the following:

 

- Establish proof of non-residency as mentioned by prior posters

- Contact your council Housing Officer - they would almost certainly assist with a prosecution, should there be sufficient evidence

Edited July 9, 2008 by MrShed

[phat256]

hi adridurde i knwo how the police is totally ineffective (to say the least) when you need them. i know from my own experience with my previous landlord.

 

in my case the police offficer dealing with my complaint has told me blalantly " that LL are allowed to do all false allegation, to intimidate teneant into paying more, they can as it is their property and they can as they wish" to date it is still make my blood boiled.

 

good luck with your claim you will need it lol !

[adridude]

problem is that it wasn't his residence.

 

I've got rights because of that. Luckily one of my companies customers are a lawyer and theyve been ever so helpful.

 

Aparently I need to send them a letter stating all fees etc...

 

I've stated that I wish to get:

 

1) My deposit back

2) My rent back (pro rata)

3) £500 for undue mental distress (as I'm recovering from severe depression and loads of suicide attempts)

4) £500 for having to sleep rough and eat take out whereas I usually have a healthy diet

5) £500 for distress in my family as they contacted my parents (listed in the contract as next of kin) when I was evicted and through all the arguements

*edit* 7) £2000 for loss of earnings as I wasnt able to attend work for that week as my clothes were in the house. Also I had a warning letter (first official) from the company.

6) Any legal fees which I may incur in this claim

 

Does this seem fair?

 

The lawyers have told me to claim for much much more, ut I just want my money back, to teach the guy a lesson and go my own way. I dont need to get rich out of this.

 

Adridude

[MrShed]

1) Fine

2) Fine

3) fine as long as you can prove unlawful eviction

4+5) included in "punitive damages" as part of 3. But you dont get damages for being "contacted". There are no punitive damages due to your family whatsoever. as I have mentioned above, you need to be wary of what you explicitly declare, as if you claim damages for your family for being contacted, the judge will take a very dim view of it.

6) Fine

7) Fine AS LONG AS you can a) prove unlawful eviction and b) prove that you made every attempt to work around this and get to work despite the eviction issue.

 

Have you done what posters have said above and gathered information regarding his residence position? You are going to have to PROVE that he was not resident.

[adridude]

I have sought legal advice from a solicitor and they have helped me write a letter. The landlord had 21 days in which to meet my requirements or they will be taken to court both to claim the sums outlined in my letter and also to prosecute for illegal action i.e. how he conducts his renting/leasing.

[MrShed]

Can I ask how the intend to prove "illegal action"? And what laws they are claiming have been breached?