A London council has prosecuted a rogue landlord and his associated property firm for letting unsafe properties and being unlicensed - and the fines and costs top £33,000.
A Magistrates’ Court heard the case against Pedro Reis Tenajas and London Corporate Relocation; neither Tenajas – who was fined £22,000 by Tower Hamlets council in 2019 for issuing sham licenses – nor his co-defendant attended.
In their absence, the court heard from Merton council’s legal team how the defendants had failed to apply for the correct license to rent out a property in Wimbledon Park as a house in multiple occupation.
Further charges were made that they had failed to legally act as landlords, had not provided information to the property’s occupiers, and had now carried out the legally required safety measures for an HMO.
Magistrates found the case to be proven against Tenajas and noted that the failings were extremely serious, and had potentially put lives at risk.
They also said the company had been uncooperative and obstructive, and had provided no company accounts.
London Corporate Relocation was ordered to pay fines and costs amounting to £21,750 to be paid within 28 days, while Tenajas was slapped with a total of £11,530 to pay in the same time span, with a collection order applied to him.
A Merton Council representative says: “Merton will continue to aggressively pursue such cases through the courts and take tough action against landlords who wilfully flout the law. I would like to thank our housing enforcement and legal teams for all their hard work in this and other cases.”
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