• Home
  • About
  • Clinic
  • Training
  • Tenants
  • Landlord Law

The Landlord Law Blog

From landlord and tenant lawyer Tessa Shepperson

  • Home
  • Posts
  • News & comment
  • Cases
  • Tenants
    • The Renters Guide Website
    • 15 Places for tenant help
  • Clinic
  • Series
    • Analysis
    • should law and justice be free
    • HMO Basics
    • Tenancy Agreements 33 days
    • Airbnb
    • Grounds for Eviction
    • Tips

Warning to letting agents – you can be prosecuted for giving sham licenses to tenants

August 21, 2017 by Tessa Shepperson

LawI am delighted to see that at last a local Trading Standards Office has brought a successful prosecution against a letting agent for unfair practices under the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Sham Licenses

The two victims originally contacted the Council because they could not get their tenancy deposit back from letting agents Green Live Ltd in Holloway Road in London.

The Council then discovered that the tenants had been given ‘sham licenses’ telling them that they were licensees without rights when in fact under the law they had an assured shorthold tenancy.

The tenants were falsely told that as they were licensees they had no right to challenge eviction or to have their deposit protected in a statutory scheme.

Misleading consumers

All tenants (and indeed genuine licensees) are consumers and are therefore protected under consumer law.

If they are given false information and led to believe that they do not have rights when in fact they do – this will be an offence under the Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 – the basis of this prosecution (see here for more on consumers rights) .

This act also gives consumers various rights under the civil law, including the right to end the contract early and to claim compensation.

Prosecution

The prosecution, brought by Islington Trading Standards is thought to be the first in the country on this basis. Green Live pleaded guilty to two offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and also using a letting agency association logo, although it was not a member.

Green Live was

  • Fined £11,000 for issuing two licences, and
  • £5,000 for the misuse of a logo
  • The two tenants were each awarded £3,000 compensation.

Islington housing boss Cllr Diarmaid Ward said:

“We will not tolerate illegal practices like sham licences in Islington and if we become aware of any similar cases we will investigate with a view to prosecution.”

Tenancy Deposit Claim

Note that the tenants can also bring a claim under the civil law against Green Live and the landlord of the property (if this is not Green Live themselves) for the penalty of up to 3x the deposit sum under the deposit protection rules in the Housing Act 2004.

I think it is fair to say that in these circumstances they would almost certainly be awarded the maximum penalty of 3x the deposit sum by the Judge.

Have YOU been given a sham license?

If you are living in rented accommodation and have been given what you are told is a license – this may be wrong.

For example take a look at this article.

If you think you have been wrongly given a license and are being refused rights you are entitled to (for example if your landlord is trying to evict you without getting a Court Order first) – contact your Local Trading Standards Office and show them this article and also this report in the Islington Gazette.

When banning orders (under the Housing & Planning Act 2016) come into force in due course this is also something which could be the subject of a banning order.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: News and comment

Scroll down for the comments

IMPORTANT: Please check the date of the post above - remember, if it is an old post, the law may have changed since it was written.

You should always get independent legal advice before taking any action.

Notes on comments:

For personal landlord and tenant related problems, please use our >> Blog Clinic.
Note that we do not publish all comments, please >> click here to read our terms of use and comments policy. Comments close after three months.

Keep up with the news on Landlord Law blog!

To get posts sent direct to your email in box click here

About Tessa Shepperson

Tessa is a specialist landlord & tenant solicitor and the creator of this site! She is a director of Landlord Law Services which now hosts Landlord Law and other services for landlords and property professionals.

« Landlord Law Blog Roundup from 14th August
Are tenants responsible for extra water charges caused by a leak? »

“Interesting posts on residential landlord & tenant law and practice - in England & Wales UK”

Subscribe to the Landlord Law Blog by email

Never miss another post!

Sign up to our
>> daily updates

If you are new to the blog >> click here

Get Your Free Ebook:

Click to get your Free Ebook

>> Click Here for Your Free Copy

Featured Post

Tessa Shepperson

Why you need and how to get proper legal advice on landlord and tenant issues

Tessa’s Podcast

The Landlord and Lawyer Podcast

Worried about Insurance?

Landlord Law Insurance Mini-Course

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to provide information, comment and discussion.

Although Tessa, or guest bloggers, may from time to time, give helpful comments to readers' questions, these can only be based on the information given by the reader in his or her comment, which may not contain all material facts.

Any comments or suggestions provided by Tessa or any guest bloggers should not, therefore be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer regarding any actual legal issue or dispute.

Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice or perceived as creating a lawyer-client relationship (apart from the Fast Track block clinic service - so far as the questioners only are concerned).

Please also note that any opinion expressed by a guest blogger is his or hers alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tessa Shepperson, or the other writers on this blog.

Cookies

You can find out more about our use of 'cookies' on this website here.

Associated sites

Landlord Law Services
The Renters Guide
Eco Landlords
Your Law Store

Legal

Landlord Law Blog is © 2006 – 2021 Tessa Shepperson.

Note that Tessa is an introducer for Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers and will get a commission from sales made via links on this website.

© 2006–2022 Tessa Shepperson | Rainmaker Platform | Contact Page | Privacy | Log in

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept