The Trial of Mr. Samson and Miss Richard - Essay Example

Introduction For the purposes of this paper, the term landlord shall refer to the owner or lessor of a building or a dwelling unit. He could also be the manager of the premises. Tenant on the other hand shall refer to any person who under a rental agreement occupies a building or a dwelling unit. In the present case, Mr. Samson is the landlord while Ms. Richard is the tenant. The dwelling unit is the upper floor flat at 25 High Street. Each of these has rights and obligations towards the dwelling unit. The rights and obligations are usually stated in a written agreement, which dictate how they relate. The law protects and acts on behalf of both the landlord and the tenant. 2. Statement of facts Ms. Richard the tenant has occupied the dwelling unit for a number of months. Since she moved in, the flat has been constantly damp due to roof leakage every time it rains. This has brought severe cold on her. She has frequently complained to the landlord who has not taken any action. Consequently, she has terminated paying the rent to accumulate enough money to engage a builder do the repairs. It is worth to note that Mr. Samson gave her a tenancy agreement, which is for a fixed term of two years. In the agreement tenancy, there is no reference to any repairing obligation of the landlord. It also prohibits keeping of pets but Ms. Richards keeps an Alsatian dog in the flat. She has also been convicted of possessing cannabis on the premises. Mr. Samson intends to evict Ms. Richards from his premises soon. 3. Rent arrears According to section 109 (b) of the Landlord and Tenant Act, rent should be paid at the time and place agreed by the parties. The entire rent should be paid at the beginning of any term. One month’s rent should be paid at the beginning of each month of a longer term. Unless otherwise agreed, Mr Samson is justified to claim the rent arrears in a court of law and obtain possession of his house. He can evict Ms. Richard who has bleached the agreement under the Serious Rent Arrears ground and pursuant to section 21 of the Housing Act, 1998. We can compare the above justification to a case in London where one Mr. O had extensive rent arrears in Mr. S’s dwelling unit. Though Mr. S had not given a written tenancy agreement to the tenant, he was finally able to obtain possession of his property under the ground of Serious Rent Arrears. Compared to Mr. S, Mr. Samson is in a better position to acquire possession of his premises as he had issued a tenancy agreement to Ms. Richard at the commencement of her tenancy. (See, Landlord law 2009-Examples of successful cases and advise work by Tessa on Mr. S, Mr., M and Mr. O) 4. Repair If the premise is not in a good state of repair at the commencement of the tenancy, the tenant has the right to insist that repairs be carried out. If the damage is serious, the tenant will be entitled to consider the tenancy as terminated because the landlord will have bleached his obligations. This is provided in the Landlord and Tenant Act law, which states that if repairs need to be done, tenants should inform the landlord. If he/she refuses to have the repairs done, it may be possible to force him or her to. Failure to carry out repairs is a harassment to the tenants, which is a criminal offense, and the tenant can claim compensation from the landlord. Ms. Richards has frequently complained about the leaking problem to Mr. Samson but he has done nothing about it. However, Ms. Richards has no legal back up to claim repair from Mr. Samson as the tenancy agreement contains no reference to any repairing obligation on the part of the landlord. Section 121 (a) of the landlord and tenant act states that if there is a material noncompliance by the landlord with any of the rental agreement terms that affect health and the bleach is remediable by repairs, the tenant may notify the landlord of his intentions to correct the conditions at the landlord’s expense. If the landlord fails to comply as promptly as conditions require, the tenant may cause the repair to be done in a workmanlike manner. He/she should then submit an itemized statement to the landlord and deduct from his/her rent the actual and reasonable cost incurred during the repair. In this legal sense, Ms. Richard is justified to have the repair done. However, there was no provision of repair in the terms of the rental agreement. Consequently, she has no right to stop paying the rent with an aim of engaging a builder to carry out the repairs. 5. Eviction If a landlord unlawfully evicts a tenant from a dwelling unit, the tenant may recover possession by a proceeding brought in a court of competent jurisdiction. The tenant may also terminate the rental agreement after giving the landlord a notice of such intention as provided in Section 123 of the Landlord and Tenant Act. In either case, the tenant would recover an amount not more than twice the average monthly rental, or twice his actual damage, whichever is greater. In this case, I would advise that Mr. Samson might not succeed in terminating Ms. Richard’s tenancy. This is because he had given the tenant a standard tenancy agreement, expressed as “Holiday Letting” for a fixed term of two years. This term has not expired giving Ms. Richards the right to live in the premises until the agreed term ends. Otherwise, she may seek a court order. Mr. Samson would therefore be committing a criminal offense under the protection from Evictions Act by evicting the tenant. 6. Tenant’s health Ms. Richards would have a basis to take a legal action against Mr. Samson as provided in section 118(D) of the Landlord and Tenant Act only if in the terms of rental agreement he had an obligation to ensure that the property is clean and not damp. The section provides for the tenant to immediately terminate the rental agreement upon written notice to the landlord, which specifies the landlord’s noncompliance that renders the dwelling unit uninhabitable or poses an imminent threat to the health and safety of any occupant. 7. Possession of cannabis Section 127 (8) of the Landlord and Tenant Act prohibits a tenant from engaging in any drug-related criminal activity on or near the premises, either personally or by any member or guest of his or her household. Mr. Samson would therefore be justified to take a legal action against Ms. Richard who has recently been convicted of possessing cannabis on the premises. This would also give him better grounds on which to evict her from his premises. This is because she stands out as a threat to the health, safety and peaceful enjoyment of the premises by any other tenant to whom he may lend the ground floor flat and even to neighbours. 8. Pets on the premises The landlord has a right of adopting rules or regulations concerning the tenants’ use and occupancy of the premises with the purpose of promoting the convenience, peace, safety or welfare of the tenants in the premises and to preserve his/her property from abusive use as provided in section 126 of Landlord and Tenant Act. Legally, a landlord is held financially responsible for damages or injury caused by a tenant’s dog. Mr. Samson would thereby be justified to take a legal action against Ms. Richard because she has bleached the tenancy agreement, which prohibits the tenant from keeping any pets on the premises. This would also provide better grounds for Mr. Samson to evict her. The court recognises rules and regulations set by landlords in their premises. Even if a pet does not pose a threat, the landlord can decide on whether it should be kept or not. For instance, he/she may consider it a nuisance or simply undesirable and the law give him the right to demand its removal by the tenant from the premises. An example is a case in which two tenant’s dogs attacked a visitor. The court gave the landlord the right to demand the removal of these dogs from his premises within 48 hours. Ms Richards can therefore not defend her action with the claim that her dog has not attacked someone. The landlord’s decision as expressed in the tenancy agreement is final. The law expects her to observe the rules and regulations as outlined in the tenancy agreement. 9. Conclusion Some of the charges that Ms. Richards would raise against Mr. Samson include failure to repair the premises, which has affected her health. Ms. Richards has no legal back up to claim repair from Mr. Samson as the tenancy agreement contains no reference to any repairing obligation on the part of the landlord. If sued in a court of law, I would advice Mr. Samson to use the tenancy agreement to defend himself. The charges that Mr. Samson would raise against Ms. Richards include withdrawal from payment of rent, possession of cannabis in his premises and keeping of a pet against the rules in his dwelling unit. Mr. Samson is justified to follow the rent arrears from Ms. Richards in a court of law and obtain possession of his house. Mr. Samson can evict the tenant on the grounds of her keeping an Alsatian dog in his premises. Ms. Richard’s conviction of possessing cannabis in the premises would give Mr. Samson better grounds on which to evict her from his premises. Before evicting Ms. Richards from his premises, Mr. Samson should give her a notice. If it is in a court of law, he can raise charges such as bleach of agreement against her. A tenancy runs until it is ended by a tenant or a landlord through agreed surrender of the property. Eviction should therefore not be forceful or threatening. Ms. Richards must have acted in ignorance during the commencement of the tenancy because she did not consider the condition of the house and the consequences of living in such a house. Therefore, she is to blame for her present predicament. Work cited Mooney, V: Landlord & Tenant Act, (2000). Retrieved on 27th Feb, 2009 from: http://www.vmres.com/vi21000.htm Landlord-law: Examples of successful case and advice, (2009). Retrieved on 27th Feb, 2009 from:http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/page.ihtml?id=250&catparid=2&step=2&page=both Read More