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A landlord has been convicted for the illegal eviction and harassment of a tenant.
St Albans Magistrates Court heard how Olufemi Forseythe, a Hertfordshire landlord, harassed his tenant at a property in Hatfield, by repeatedly sending messages informing her that he would be moving into the premises without her consent, changing the locks to the premises without her consent, and threatening to call bailiffs to evict her without any legal basis on which to do so.
Forseythe also repeatedly sent her insulting and aggressive messages.
He also refused to fix a defective boiler resulting in the council having to carry out works instead to reinstate heating and hot water.
In mitigation, Foresythe’s barrister argued that he lacked experience as a landlord as this was his first tenanted property.
Forseythe was fined a total of £1,800 plus the council’s costs of £750 and costs to the victim of £720.
A council spokesperson says: “Our message to rogue landlords and agents is very clear: we will work tirelessly together with our partners to locate and crack down on unscrupulous landlords and managers who fail in their duty to support tenants, treat them with respect, and keep them safe.”
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I wonder why he hassled the tenant? Unaceptable, but then even a placid mild mannered chap like myself can only be pushed so far....
That is totally the landlords stupidity. Before being a landlord, he needs to understand the full letting legislation. Noone can use the excuse of being ignorant of the law. These sort of landlords are creating a bad PRS.
Yes landlords like this are causing problems for the rest of us and are giving ammunition for the activists and mayors.
Get used to it this will be the way forward without sec 21, and once again we don't hear the landlords side do we, I'm sure she deserved all she got, how about naming her to protect other landlords
I think we would need to hear both sides of the story. Some landlords really have no idea and give the rest of us a bad name.
His barrister argued that he lacked experience as a landlord. I would suggest his barrister also lacked experience as a barrister. Surely, as a barrister not a barista, he knows that ignorance of the law is no excuse?
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