Rogue designer landlord strikes again and fined £7,500 after changing door code
The landlord let a room in a house she owns in Cheltenham but changed the agreed terms regarding when the tenant could and couldn’t stay and what was included in the rent.
Cheltenham Borough Council has successfully prosecuted a rogue landlord for the second time for illegally evicting a tenant from their accommodation in Cheltenham after changing the door code to access the property.
The landlord – interior designer Lidia Szopinska, a London resident – let a room in a house she owns in Cheltenham to a tenant in January 2022 for three months. But after the terms were agreed they were changed, regarding when the tenant could and couldn’t stay, and what was included in the rent.
DOOR CODE
Szopinska changed the door code and the tenant was unable to access his room for the remainder of the agreement.
The tenant only stayed at the property for two weeks instead of the agreed three-month period. Szopinska also failed to return the deposit or provide a refund for the time the tenant was not at the property.
It is a criminal offence under s1(2) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 when a person unlawfully deprives or attempts to deprive a residential occupier of any premises of his occupation of those premises without reasonable cause to believe that the occupier had ceased to reside at the premises.
ROGUE LANDLORDS
Cllr Martin Horwood, council member for customer and regulatory services, says: “We are committed to ensuring that all private landlords operate on a level playing field and officers will support those who operate professionally, while taking enforcement action against rogue landlords.”
Mark Nelson, enforcement manager at Cheltenham Borough Council (main picture), adds: “No landlord can act outside the law and we will do everything in our power to ensure tenants can live in rented properties safe in the knowledge that we are there to protect them from illegal eviction.”
Ms Szopinska appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates Court on 10 May 2023 and received a fine of £210, a victim surcharge of £84 and was also ordered to pay prosecution costs and compensation totalling £7,540.60.
Szopinska had previously been found guilty of unlawfully depriving the couple of their occupation of the premises at a trial at Cheltenham Magistrates Court on the 22 March 2023.
