Landlord And Tenant Solicitors For Complex Disputes

If your tenant is in the process of making a claim against you for:

1. Disrepair

2. Harassment

3. Unlawful Eviction

Call us straightaway on 0151 227 3391 for a free no obligation consultation on your next steps.

Whether or not your tenant’s claim is a complete fiction, partially or completely true it is essential to take proper legal advice promptly. To ignore the claim or attempt to deal with it yourself could be costly.

At Bartletts we have built up considerable expertise in helping Landlord’s defend themselves against these sorts of claims. We will ensure that you can walk away from the ordeal with no or minimal financial loss.

Disrepair

By far the most common claims made by Tenants against their Landlords are for compensation in respect of alleged disrepair at the property. These claims will often include claims for compensation for:

1. ‘Distress and inconvenience’ caused by the disrepair and suffered by the tenant during his occupation of the property

2. the tenant’s possessions that have been damaged by the disrepair (eg if a leaking pipe ruins the tenant’s TV)

3. injuries suffered by the tenant as a result of the disrepair (eg for example where a loose banister railing causes the tenant to fall)

4. If you need court representation ahead of a hearing we can help

Where the tenant is alleging the deposit has not been registered properly it is not uncommon for tenants to also claim the penalty payment of 3 times the deposit amount and the return of the deposit.

Harassment

The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 makes it an offence for a landlord ‘to do acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of a residential occupier’. This is a wide ranging obligation and would include threats against tenants, withholding services from tenants or making life difficult for the tenants in any way.

It goes without saying that claims for harassment by tenants are open to abuse and exaggeration. For example, what was in reality a straightforward personal visit by the landlord or his agent to demand overdue rent can sometimes, in the tenant’s claim, be turned into a menacing ultimatum to leave the property.

Unlawful Eviction

Except in limited circumstances the Protection from Eviction Act also makes it an offence to evict a residential occupier without a court order. To take an extreme example this would include throwing the tenant and his possessions in the street and changing the locks.

However, in reality, claims for unlawful eviction are not that clear cut. Often landlords mistakenly believe they have a right to take back possession or that the tenancy has in fact ended. For example, often a house may have been abandoned for a few weeks and the tenant may have emptied the house of his belongings. If the landlord takes back possession thinking that the tenant’s moved out he may be in for a shock a few weeks or months later when the same tenant claims to have been unlawfully evicted and that his tenancy never ended.

As tenants can claim large sums of compensation for unlawful eviction it is vital to get proper legal advice straightaway.