The second episode of Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’, due to air on Wednesday 1st July 2015 at 9pm, will feature three separate landlords all facing financial ruin as a result of troublesome tenants.
Calling on the expert help of Landlord Action to help regain possession of their property and chase outstanding arrears, Founder Paul Shamplina uncovers the stark reality of tenancies gone wrong.
The leading story follows builder Franc Coutinho, who has been renting his property out in North London for six years without a problem until his latest tenant, Shuaghxi Fu, moved in. Within six weeks, problems with paying the rent began with the tenant reporting false issues with the boiler to avoid paying rent. Despite numerous visits by plumbers to the property, when rent was due, the boiler mysteriously stopped working. Unable to take anymore and facing financial ruin, Franc starts the eviction process. However, when his day in court arrives, Shuaghxi Fu makes a surprise show, files a last minute defence – again about the faulty boiler – and delays the eviction by months.
Commenting on the case, Mr Shamplina said: “Sadly we see far too many cases like this. It is one of the many reasons we have fought so hard to prevent law changes in relation to retaliation eviction because we fear we will see more and more cases like this if tenants are able to use delay tactics by reporting bogus issues of disrepair. Upon checking out the property it was clear there was nothing wrong with the boiler but the delay at court meant poor Franc was left with months of unpaid rent and legal fees. Having to pay two mortgages he was on the brink of bankruptcy.”
The episode’s second case features landlord Dipan Doshi who has been renting his flat out to a family of four for 18 months but for the past year has barely received a penny in rent, and is now owed over £12,000. With a wife on maternity leave, he can’t just walk away from this amount of money, so starts the ball rolling in getting the money and his property back.
Finally, after been out of pocket to the tune of £7000 in unpaid rent, landlord Louise McKinlay finally gets her tenant evicted, but once she’s in the property she finds that just because the tenant’s gone, doesn’t mean that’s the end of the nightmare.
