Landlord stared at tenants before illegally evicting ...

A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £1,600 after pleading guilty to an illegal eviction.

Grace Young of Derby let an unfurnished property to a young family for 12 months. Nine months into their tenancy, she handed the tenants a hand-written note asking them to vacate the property immediately.

She then served two notices seeking possession, one of which was to be invalid.

Young was prosecuted under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 following complaints made to Derby council’s housing standards team in 2022.

At Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court, Young was fined £600 and ordered to pay costs of £950. In addition, she was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60.

The court heard that during the notice period, Young began to repeatedly stand outside the property and stare through windows.

While the tenants were away on a short break, the landlord entered the property and changed the locks without informing the tenants or providing them with new keys.

Following the tenant’s report to the council, the family was offered support and has since found a new home.

A Derby council spokesperson says: “All landlords have a duty of care to their tenants and while the vast majority of private landlords in the city take their legal obligations seriously, there are a small minority who don’t.

“This prosecution sends a strong message to that minority of unscrupulous landlords that the Council is not afraid to take legal action to safeguard tenants and their wellbeing. I would encourage anyone with concerns about their rented property or their landlord to report this to our team.”

Want to comment on this story? Our focus is on providing a platform for you to share your insights and views and we welcome contributions.
If any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.
Please help us by reporting comments you consider to be unduly offensive so we can review and take action if necessary. Thank you.

Robert Brown
21 March 2023 10:30 AM

Perhaps she was looking through the windows to ensure her property wasn't being trashed by tenants she clearly needed to get out of her property?

Perhaps this innocent behaviour prevented her property from being damaged - so the £1600 fine was a good outcome?

Sounds like a gap in the market for professional well-built but very well-behaved "starers" who know how to say (just) inside the law?

Perhaps the property or landlord insurance companies should set up "starer" subsidiaries to reduce claims?

Andrew townshend
21 March 2023 10:39 AM

Christopher, in the 21st century is a criminal record really a problem ? I know a lot of very nice successful people people who have criminal records really doesn't seem much of a problem, I haven't earnt one yet but that's probably more by luck than anything else