Landlord Law Services

Legal help, services and support for private residential landlords

Tessa’s Ten Top Tips Landlords on avoiding harassment claims

  1. Do not ever use your keys to enter the property unless you have the tenant’s permission (save in a genuine emergency – such as a serious fire)
  2. This is particularly important if you are male and the tenants are female (especially if the tenant is a female living alone)
  3. If the tenants are in arrears of rent and/or you want them to leave – do not try to make things uncomfortable for them to ‘persuade’ them to go – such as disconnecting the services or refusing to carry out repairs
  4. Do not visit the tenants too often, eg to collect outstanding rent. Leave them to live in the property in peace
  5. Do not shout at the tenants or verbally abuse them even if they are in arrears of rent
  6. Do not interfere with the tenants’ use of the property, eg by demanding they do extra cleaning or forbidding visitors
  7. Remember that although you own the property, you have given away your rights to enter and use it by renting it out to the tenants. They now have the right to stop anyone from entering it – including you.
  8. If your tenants ever accuse you of harassment, immediately cease all visits to the property and communicate with them only by letter (or through your solicitor if appropriate), keeping copies of all correspondence, which should be signed and dated.
  9. It is also a good idea, if there is likely to be or has been an accusation of harassment, to keep a diary of all contact with the tenant (where possible detailing conversations), which should be written up as soon as possible after the events.
  10. If you receive a letter from the local authority accusing you of harassment, make sure you reply to it promptly. You should also cease any harassment behaviour they complain of – remember that if you continue to harass the tenants, the letter may be followed by a prosecution (which if successful will result in a criminal conviction, with a fine or possible imprisonment). If you do not consider that your behaviour was harassment, consider taking legal advice.
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