Keep Your Cool – Tips to Avoid Harassment Claims
Posted : 26/09/2016 | By Amanda Hosking
Harassment is defined as action that a landlord takes that disrupts a tenant’s life in the home or forces them to leave. It is a criminal offence and if a tenant does feel harassed they can raise this with the Local Authority.
Here are some handy tips to avoid getting a harassment complaint from your tenants:
1. Only use your own keys to enter the property if you have the tenants’ permission.
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2. Try to avoid visiting the property too often, this can agitate tenants who want to be left alone. If you need to enter the house to carry out a property inspection, send tenants’ a letter in advance informing them of the date you will be visiting.
3. If your tenants are late with rent, or you want them to leave, do not do anything to make them pay/force them out. For example, do not disconnect services, refuse to complete repairs or enter property without permission. These are all classed as harassment.
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4. Do not verbally abuse tenants in letters, emails, over the phone or in person. Try to resolve conflicts calmly.
5. Do not make unreasonable demands e.g. no guests allowed, nobody can stay over, house has to be constantly clean.
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6. If tenants do accuse you of harassment, do not visit the house and only communicate by letter from now on. Make sure you keep copies of all letters and other communications.
7. If you think an accusation of harassment may be coming keep a diary of all communication with the tenant.
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8. If you need to carry out building work let the tenants know in advance as this could disrupt their lives.