The Dickens case

Those who have read articles here in the past about ASBO landlord Dickens will find an excellent report on the Nearly Legal site here.

ASBO landlord Dickens again

My anonymous correspondent (postmark Colwyn Bay) has sent me a cutting from the Big Issue Magazine, which shows that ASBO landlord Dickens is facing yet more court appearances. He has now received a summons from the Health and Safety Executive under the gas regulations, the gas appliances in his former properties having been substandard and the flues full of rubble.

I am glad to see the HSE doing something in respect of these regulations, which after all are there to prevent people being killed by gas emissions. I am just concerned to see that the article emphasises how unusual it is for the HSE to summons offenders in this way.

The article goes on to say that the authorities are using this high profile case to send out a strong message to landlords in North Wales. If that message is that avoidance of the gas safety regulations will result in prosecution, I hope that they will bring a few more, to press the message home. There is not a lot of point in having safety regulations if they are not enforced.

Two more bad landlord stories

Landlords may moan about the new HMO licensing rules, but two stories which have come my way recently show that there are still bad landlords out there.

Firstly, this report on Youillscar Mohammed a Landlord in Glasgow who not only let out HMO properties without the proper fire precautions, but asked tenants to lie for him so he would not have to pay the license fee.

Then there is our old friend, ASBO landlord Dickens from North Wales, who has (according to a report in the Daily Post) recently had charges brought against him under the gas safety regulations. Although apparently he has now sold most of his portfolio, so the tenants of Conwy are now fairly safe from him.

I dare say these are not the only offenders. Although I agree that the disparity in the license fees across the different authorities is unfair, I do think that basically the regulation of landlords, at least in the more vulnerable HMO area, is justified, if it helps prevent this sort of thing, and keeps tenants safe.

More on rogue landlord Dickens

My anonymous correspondent has sent me a further cutting in the story of ASBO landlord Steven Dickens. You can see my previous post here. It seems that the charming Mr Dickens will be facing fraud charges totaling some £7 million. You can read about it in the North Wales Pioneer - do a search on Steven Dickens - the entry is dated 1 August 2006.

However I should assure readers that very few landlords behave in this way. Although it is comforting to know that dishonest landlords are now being prosecuted and brought to book. It is a pity that this did not happen more in the past. Bad landlords are bad news for good landlords as they taint peoples' view of landlords in general.

Meanwhile it will be interesting to see what happens during Mr Dickens trial, whether he gets convicted, and if so, what his sentence will be.

More trouble for ASBO landlord

I have received in the post a copy of an article about ASBO landlord Steven Dickens, mentioned in my earlier post, who it appears is in more trouble. Fresh charges are mentioned in the article, which all appear to involve obtaining property by deception from the Department of Work and Pensions and the Conwy Council Borough Council. The sum mentioned is £45,931.48.

It looks like a family business as his parents and partner are to be charged also.

Mr Dickens asked the court if he could have his passport back (handed to police as part of his bail conditions) so he could have a family holiday abroad, but this was refused.

The full trial is due to be heard next year. No doubt I will be kept informed by my Welsh correspondent, to which many thanks.

In the meantime, from another online article here it looks as if Mr Dickens (or rather his court appointed receiver) is selling his property stock. Sale proceeds are in the region of two million pounds, which will be nice for Mr Dickens' creditors. No doubt the DWP and Conwy Council will be looking to the sale proceeds for recompense, should the claims against Dickens be proved.

ASBOs made against anti-social landlords

Local authorities and the police are starting to get tough against bad landlords. In Manchester an ASBO was made against landlord Mansha Shaheen in November 2005 preventing him from using or threatening violence against his tenants. Reported in the local press.

A similar order was made against a large private landlord, Steven Dickens, in Conwy, Wales in January. Interestingly this order not only prohibits him from using abusive behaviour against his tenants and withdrawing services, but also from approaching Conwy County Borough housing staff without an appointment. Apparently he made threats against staff when asked by them to effect repairs to his properties. He sounds like a nice man – he subsequently breached the ASBO order and has had his passport confiscated pending a criminal prosecution for mortgage fraud. Read all about it here.