An Oxford landlord has been handed fines totalling £4,500 for renting out a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) that was unlicensed and in a state of disrepair.
Jeffeth Junior Latchman, 49, of Garsington appeared before Oxford Magistrates' Court on Monday 5 January 2015 after being prosecuted for running the HMO in Nowell Road.
Concerns over conditions at the property and its status were raised when one of the tenants complained to the City Council about the poor living conditions in the property.
An environmental health officer from the City Council's HMO Enforcement Team visited the property in August last year to follow up and deal with the tenants’ concerns. The officer determined the property to be an unlicensed and unsafe HMO in disrepair, which was also infested with cockroaches.
Latchman pleaded guilty to being in control of an unlicensed HMO and received a fine of £2,000 for failing to obtain a licence.
He also pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, and was fined £500 per offence. Three of the offences were failing to ensure that adequate safety measures were taken within the property, including a broken fire alarm system, an obstructed means of escape in case of fire and lack of fire resisting doors. Two further offences were for disrepair.
In addition, the Magistrates' Court ordered Latchman to pay all the council's costs of £815 for bringing the case to court.
Councillor Ed Turner, board member for finance, asset management and public health, says: "It is good that this landlord has been brought to book for running a cockroach-infested property in the way he did.
"Landlords who fail to meet their responsibilities to their tenants and the wider community should be in no doubt that they will be prosecuted, and the courts are now imposing substantial fines."
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