HARASSMENT & ILLEGAL EVICTION
Advice about what to do if your landlord tries to force you out of your home or evicts you without following the proper procedures.
Both Harassment and Illegal Eviction are serious criminal offences.
WHAT IS HARASSMENT?
Harassment is where a landlord, or someone else, deliberately makes life difficult for you to try to make you leave or stop you from using your legal rights. Some examples are:
- cutting off your water, gas or electricity
- using threatening behaviour to make you leave
- trying to make you sign an agreement that takes away your legal rights
- interfering with your possessions
- moving into part of your home
WHAT IS ILLEGAL EVICTION?
This is when someone forces you to leave your home illegally. This could be done by;
- physically throwing you out of your home
- changing the locks
- stopping you from getting into part of your home
LAWFUL EVICTION
A landlord CAN evict an occupier lawfully depending on what sort of tenancy you have and what your rights are to stay in your home.
Normally, if you pay rent for a house, flat or bedsit and you do not share your accommodation with a resident landlord, the landlord will have to give you a written notice and then apply to the Court for a possession order before you can be evicted. If you live in a hostel or bed and breakfast hotel then you will usually have much fewer rights.
If you are in any doubt about your security, get advice straight away. Please see the information "Housing Rights in the Private Sector" or discuss the situation with a Housing advisory Officer.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Get advice from the Council's Housing Advisory Service as soon as possible. Bring in any documents or correspondence relating to your tenancy that you may have.
Keep a careful diary of everything that happens so that you can give the advisor all the details. This includes;
- any threats made against you or any other incidents, including the date and time
- the names and addresses of any people involved, especially witnesses, including the police
- if you need medical treatment, write down the names of the doctors who examined you
HOW CAN WE HELP?
First of all the Council can give you advice about your legal rights.
We can contact your landlord and use persuasion and warnings to stop him /her behaving unlawfully.
If your landlord refuse to stop then the Council will consider prosecuting him /her. We will put you in touch with local solicitors who will help you apply to the County Court for an injunction. This can be done very quickly (sometimes the same day).
For example, an injunction could tell a landlord to:
- stop harassing a tenant
- not to evict a tenant
- allow a tenant back into their home if they have been unlawfully evicted
WHAT CAN THE POLICE DO?
You should ALWAYS tell the police if you have been harassed or illegally evicted. This is particularly important if you have been threatened or assaulted or if your property has been damaged or stolen. The police may be able to warn the landlord that he /she is breaking the law. They may also be able to prosecute if the landlord has committed an assault or criminal damage. If the police have witnessed an offence taking place ask them to take notes on what has happened and make a written report to the Council. Make a note of the name and number of any police officers you speak to.
AT NIGHT OR WEEKENDS
If you suffer harassment or are illegally evicted at night or over the weekend you should call the police. Tell them you will be making a formal report about the incident to the Council on the next working day. If you are homeless and in a "priority need" group ( i.e. have children, are pregnant, elderly, under 18 or suffer from a serious medical condition or are disabled) then either the police or yourself can contact the Council's emergency service to see if they can arrange alternative accommodation.