Ten landlords have been taken to court and fined. The property owners either failed to register as a landlord or get a licence and in some cases did not do either.
Since 2015 every landlord who privately rents out a Welsh home has been legally required to register with Rent Smart Wales. Registration involves paying a fee of £45 and then, after five years, £36 to renew. Landlords taken to Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last week ended up being fined far higher figures including one who must pay a total of £1,971.
Landlords are also required to be licensed through Rent Smart Wales. The scheme means they must do training and be deemed a “fit and proper person” by the licensing authority before they can be granted a licence. It also means they must commit to complying with a code of practice.
Here are the 10 landlords who were fined last week in court:
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Satvir Sandhu, of Golygfa’r Eglwys in Pontypridd, was ordered to pay £1,971 after it was proven in his absence from court that he had not been registered as a landlord. Last December he was an unregistered landlord of five properties – 13 Mill Road, Caerphilly; 112 St Cenydd Road, Caerphilly; 4 Golygfa’r Eglwys, Pontypridd; and 13 and 21 Mound Road, Maesycoed, Pontypridd. He must pay fines totalling £1,100, prosecution costs of £431, and a victim services surcharge of £440.
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Gemma Roberts, of Pierhead View in Penarth, was ordered to pay £1,440 after admitting she had not been licensed as a landlord. In March she illegally collected rent from a tenancy at 188 Hansen Court, Heol Glan Rheidol, Butetown. She must pay a fine of £721, prosecution costs of £431, and a victim services surcharge of £288.
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Laila Jasmine Mason, from Butetown in Cardiff, was ordered to pay £824.20 after admitting she had not been licensed as a landlord. In January she illegally collected rent from a tenancy at a ground-floor flat at 66 Pomeroy Street, Butetown. The 59-year-old, of Windsor Esplanade, must pay a fine of £435, prosecution costs of £215.20, and a victim services surcharge of £174.
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Steven David Elley, from Rhydyfelin near Pontypridd, was ordered to pay £1,065 after admitting he had not been registered or licensed as a landlord. In March he illegally collected rent from a tenancy at 87 Maes-Yr-Awel in Rhydyfelin. The 39-year-old, of Sycamore Street, must pay fines totalling £486, prosecution costs of £385, and a victim services surcharge of £194.
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Noor Begum Minhas, of Fields Road in Newport, was ordered to pay £644 after admitting he had not been registered as a landlord. Last December he was an unregistered landlord of two properties – 63 Fairoak Avenue, Newport, and a flat over 172 Corporation Road, Newport. The 72-year-old must pay a fine of £146, prosecution costs of £440, and a victim services surcharge of £58.
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Ali Bin Zahir Minhas, of Fields Road in Newport, was ordered to pay £465 after admitting he had not been registered as a landlord. Last December he was an unregistered landlord of 26 Bishton Street, Newport. He must pay a fine of £180, prosecution costs of £230, and a victim services surcharge of £55.
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Rhobert Davies, of Gethin Terrace in Porth, was ordered to pay £658.40 after admitting he had not been licensed as a landlord. In January he illegally collected rent from a tenancy at 11 Gethin Terrace in Porth. The 53-year-old must pay a fine of £184, prosecution costs of £400.40, and a victim services surcharge of £74.
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Mary Rooney, of Glynne Street in Deeside, was ordered to pay £1,940.40 after it was proven in her absence from court that she had not been registered or licensed as a landlord. In March she illegally collected rent from a tenancy at 58 Glynne Street in Deeside. She must pay fines totalling £1,100, a victim services surcharge of £440, and prosecution costs of £400.40.
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Anni Nakakmura, from Corwen in Denbighshire, was ordered to pay £555 after admitting she had not been registered as a landlord. Last December she was an unregistered landlord of 3 Rivulet Road, Wrexham. The 68-year-old, of Dyffrn Tawel, must pay a fine of £100, prosecution costs of £415, and a victim services surcharge of £40.
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Ashok Patel, of Jewsbury Way in Leicester, was ordered to pay £672 after admitting he had not been licensed as a landlord. In January he illegally collected rent from a tenancy at 7 Bond Street, Newport. The 52-year-old must pay a fine of £150, prosecution costs of £462, and a victim services surcharge of £60.
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Councillor Lynda Thorne, Cardiff council’s cabinet member for housing, told WalesOnline: “Rent Smart Wales has been established for a number of years now – there really is no excuse for landlords failing to comply with the law other than deliberate evasion. Non-compliant landlords are given plenty of opportunity to register or become licensed but, as these cases show, we will not hesitate to prosecute those who ignore their duties.”
The council said the Cardiff cases came to light due to a mixture of “regular interrogation of the information held by Rent Smart Wales as well as proactive intelligence-gathering by Rent Smart Wales and its local authority partners”. You can read more of the latest court news from across Wales here.