{"id":3606,"date":"2018-04-17T11:31:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T11:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3606"},"modified":"2023-02-21T15:34:44","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T15:34:44","slug":"landmark-confiscation-order-for-rogue-landlords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citylets.co.uk\/blog\/landmark-confiscation-order-for-rogue-landlords\/","title":{"rendered":"Landmark Confiscation Order for Rogue Landlords"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until now, councils could only impose fines on landlords renting homes which breach legal levels of health and safety. These fines would usually be a fraction of the rogue landlords\u2019 potential gains. However, slum landlords could now be forced to give up all earnings from their criminal activity.<\/p>\n

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Brent Council is known to be the first in the country to use the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) to pursue a family of landlords who crammed up to 40 people into a home licensed only for seven.<\/p>\n

The Shah family was found to be renting their semi-detached townhouse with one shared kitchen and two bathrooms in Wembley to 25 \u2013 40 people at any one time, receiving between \u00a360 and \u00a370 a week. The tenants would live in what was described by Harrow Crown Court as \u201cappalling\u201d conditions that were \u201cgrossly overcrowded and unsafe\u201d. They would sleep on bunk beds blocking all fire exits, with some of them living in the garden shed.<\/p>\n

Precedent for future court cases<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The landlords were found guilty of multiple breaches of housing regulations, including overcrowding and fire safety<\/a>, and are now facing paying a confiscation order for financial benefit gained or saved as a result of \u201ctheir racketeering\u201d. That could amount to over \u00a3360,000 including repairs the family neglected to fix.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Edmund Robb, counsel from Prospect Law who represented Brent Council in the hearing, said: \u201cThis judgment represents a landmark ruling from the Crown Court which allows local authorities to initiate confiscation proceedings under POCA 2002 for criminal offences linked to safety and amenity regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cRogue landlords cannot now hide behind previous case law to avoid being required by the courts to pay back rents and other benefits obtained whilst their tenants lived in squalid and dangerous conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estate agent Jaydipkumar Valand, who collected approx. \u00a3112,000 rent on behalf of the Shah family in 2015 – 2016, could also be forced to pay back any financial benefit gained.<\/p>\n

\"latest-apps\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cZero tolerance policy\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Cllr Harbi Farah, cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, commented: \u201cThis is a landmark legal decision for our zero tolerance policy against rogue landlords<\/a>. We will use all the powers we have to put an end to tenants living in misery, and this includes the Proceeds of Crime Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cWe want to work with landlords and agents<\/a> to improve the standard of living in the private rented sector, and we urge those responsible to licence their properties and comply with licensing conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until now, councils could only impose fines on landlords renting homes which breach legal levels of health and safety. These fines would usually be a fraction of the rogue landlords\u2019 potential gains. However, slum landlords could now be forced to give up all earnings from their criminal activity. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Brent Council …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[280,162,1],"tags":[393,392,297],"class_list":["post-3606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-being-a-tenant","category-legal","category-property","tag-brent-council","tag-proceeds-of-crime-act","tag-rogue-landlords","being-a-tenant","legal","property"],"yoast_head":"\r\nLandmark Confiscation Order for Rogue Landlords - 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