Illegal eviction leads to jail threat for landlord
Landlord could end up behind bars
A property developer felt the full force of the law when he ordered doors and windows to be removed from his rental flat after his tenant fell into arrears on rental payments.
Cupar Sheriff Court found the landlord, Steven Simpson, “guilty of disrupting his tenant’s peace and comfort” and now faces jail.
The man saw red and ordered his sons to rip the door and windows out of the flat that was rented by a pregnant teenager. Instead of getting specialist advice he took the law into his own hands.
As a result, the landlord was found guilty of carrying out actions that were likely to “interface with the peace and comfort” of the 18 year old at her home in Cupar Mills.
Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “I do not accept that the accused thought the complainer had left the property.
“These were actions that he could reasonably have conceived would have caused a pregnant 18 year old to leave her property.”
The case clearly demonstrates that it’s a false economy to take the law into your own hands in cases like this. Scottish evictions have set procedures that must be followed to the letter and any deviations will not be tolerated. If you have a tenant that you want to be evicted you must call in a specialist that carries out eviction services such as Legal 4 Landlords. With rising costs for rental properties, it may be the case that more tenants will fall into arrears. If you have bad tenants that damage your property or don’t pay the rent on time, the very clear message is, don’t take action without getting advice first.