A Landlord has very recently been ordered to pay a fine of £45,000 and costs of £5,000 for failing to have a HMO Licence. A lot of Clients are aware of the need to have a HMO Licence, but many of our Clients have breached the law but were unaware that they had. An example is, one Client asked a friend of his to look after his rental property in Newport, but the 'friend' allowed other occupiers to live in the property and did not tell the Landlord. The Landlord was not just fined, but also had his assets frozen under the 'Proceeds of Crime Act' Legislation. Another example is a Client who was living abroad and allowed his Agent to handle all the regulatory aspects of his property rental. The Agent had allowed the property to be occupied by over 3 family units, and the landlord faced a fine in excess of £30,000.00. It is important that when you rent a property you have good lines of communication between you and your tenants; that you inspect the property (lawfully of course), and you are always aware of the changes in legislation because ignorance is sadly no defence to breaching the law. If you have an Agent who has caused you to suffer a loss and/or you have breached a regulation whilst they are managing your property, then you will have a claim for negligence against them. If you have an issue with a HMO, if you want to watch one of our VLOGS, then please get in touch. We firmly believe that creative thinking leads to positive results.