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An East London renter has been awarded almost £4,000 in compensation, with a tribunal describing the behaviour of the landlord who left them trapped in their room as “appalling”.
The recently published residential property tribunal ruling related to a property in Upton Park. Ordering the landlord to repay £3,600 in rent as well as the renter’s legal costs, the verdict stated that “a larger penal sum would be justified if the tribunal had the power to make it”.
The tenant alleged their landlords used violence to attempt to secure entry to the property, attempted an unlawful eviction through harassment and operated an unlicensed HMO (House in Multiple Occupation). The landlord denied having committed any offences as well as ever being the applicant’s landlord, claiming the tenant was only using the property to store tools.
The tribunal concluded that it did not find the respondent’s account credible and “it does not make sense that (the tenant) would spend a disproportionately large sum of money storing his tools at a property he otherwise had no reason to go anywhere near”.
The panel, headed by Judge Nichol, was “satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt” that the landlord attempted to unlawfully evict the tenant from the property as a result of “his disregard for legal procedures”. In particular, the panel concluded that a visit to the property from a group of the landlord’s associates was “blatantly trying to intimidate the applicant to leave, with the unspoken threat of the further use of violent means”.
The tribunal heard that the men “tried to get into the room by hitting the door to try to break the lock”. The account added: “The applicant was frightened at this point. He phoned the police who later attended. By the time they arrived, the handle on the inside of the door had become detached and so the applicant could not open the door either. The police asked the applicant if he needed the door broken in and he said that he did. The police broke the lock.”
The verdict said the applicant “did nothing which could mitigate, let alone justify, the respondents’ actions”.
Former letting agent, Ajay Jagota, now of online claims firm Veriwise described the landlord’s actions as “inexcusable, but far from exceptional”.
He added: “As our cases and the sheer volume of tribunal rulings published on the government’s website every week prove, this kind of behaviour happens every day in every corner of the UK.”
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