A Nottingham landlord has been ordered to repay nearly £3,000 of rent after a tribunal ruled his "abusive and coercive" behaviour led to tenants feeling unable to use the bathroom. A judge-led residential property tribunal has ruled that there was "no reasonable excuse" for the "intimidating atmosphere" of Nasir Ahmed, the landlord of a property in Thurgarton Street, Sneinton, and ruled the tenants should be repaid £2,817.40 of rent.
The tribunal heard Ebenezer Hagan and Farhan Bashir, students at Nottingham Trent University, complained about "persistent" visits to the property "without good cause, sometimes at unusual times late at night or early morning". The visits were unconnected with attention to maintenance or repairs and caused the claimants and other occupants' "anxiety" during their tenancy, which lasted from January 12 to July 1, 2022.
On one occasion, it was stated Ahmed, of Ferndale Road, Nottingham, entered Mr Hagan's room to demand he vacate the property and when ordered to leave "banged the door closed on the claimant's hand causing injury", the hearing was told. As he left the room and the property, the landlord made "several racist abusive remarks".
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In a further incident, it was stated that two men, one of whom claimed to be the landlord's son, let themselves into the property and "demanded the applicant leave the property within 24 hours". They "became aggressive" when one of the tenants explained their right to remain under their tenancy agreement, the tribunal heard.
The hearing was told the tenant called the police and the two men left the premises. On the following day, the landlord brought them to the property and they "remained in the living room throughout the day until midnight creating an intimidating atmosphere such that the students felt unable to use the room nor the kitchen and bathroom alone".
A tenant also told the tribunal they saw the landlord "tampering with the heating boiler leading to the property not having heating or hot water". Passing a rent repayment order, the judge-led panel concluded: "The tribunal is satisfied the respondent was guilty of behaviour calculated to cause the applicants to leave the property contrary to the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 throughout the period of occupation. At the inspection the tribunal noted there was no fire safety equipment installed.
"There was no notice board giving the landlords name address and contact details. The tribunal was shown evidence of overcrowding identified by the local housing authority.
"The tribunal is satisfied that in addition to the coercive and abusive behaviour the respondent had not complied with duties of landlord under the Licensing and Management of HMO (Additional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2007." The case was heard on November 10, with a decision for rent repayments made on December 22.
Tenant's rights campaigner Ajay Jagota, of online claims firm Veriwise, commented after the case. He said: "There are strict and clear rules landlords must follow when ending a tenancy, but like so many of their legal obligations – not least those relating to fire and electrical safety – far too many landlords think that they do not apply to them.
"Your landlord cannot treat you like this – and if they do you could be entitled to compensation or rent repayment. If you lack the financial or legal resources to defend your rights as a renter, organisations like Veriwise are on hand to fight your corner."
Nottinghamshire Live attempted to contact Ahmed but did not receive a response.
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