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Latest news in Yorkshire: November 14, 2018 11:06:52 AM
A company landlord who changed the locks while their tenant was not in
the property – leaving them homeless – has been prosecuted by Rotherham
Council.
Company director, Peter Krempels, (66), of Residential Investments Ltd,
pleaded guilty to an offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977
when he appeared before Sheffield Magistrates on 23 October 2018.
The court heard that the tenant contacted Rotherham Council’s
homelessness team claiming that his landlords had changed the locks to
his property at Hollings Lane, Thrybergh, without warning.
When the Council investigated, it was found that although the company
had served a notice on the tenant, they had failed to obtain a
possession order from the courts, making the eviction unlawful.
After the company was informed that their actions were unlawful by the
Council, they did not allow the tenant access to his home until the
evening of January 15th – three days after the locks had been changed.
Mr Krempels was interviewed and confirmed that he owned and managed
between 100 and 140 properties. He said that neither he nor his staff
had received formal training on housing matters and that the company did
not have procedures around the legal eviction of tenants, or procedures
on how to reclaim a property from tenants who were in rent arrears.
The Kettering-based company was ordered to pay a total of £1,611.11,
including a £1,000 fine, £511.11costs and £100 victim surcharge.
Councillor Dominic Beck, Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing,
said: “I hope this case sends a strong message to landlords that the
correct procedures must be followed and that it is totally unacceptable
to leave people in a situation where they are locked out of their homes
and left homeless like this.”
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