By Eric King-
East London landlords who shared the profits they made from renting out a rat infested house have been heavily fined.
The thoughtless and greed landlords illegally crammed tenants into a rental property and allowed rubbish to pile up on the street outside. Magistrates fined them more than £85,000.
Thames Magistrates Court heard how the rat-infested home, in Napier Road, Leytonstone, had been passed around a number of agents, all profiting from the rental of the infested property.
The property was structured to house five tenants, but was so poorly-managed, 15 people were living there at one point. Originally handed to agent Asjit Singh Teja, director of J Amber Properties, for a sum of £2,000 per month, he passed it on to Mamataj Konica for the sum of £3,000 per month. Konica was himself looking for profit, and let out the property as bedsits for an estimated rental income of more than £4,000 per month.
Mr Teja and Ms Konica failed to licence the property in accordance with property licensing scheme laws, and were fined £75,000 and £10,000 respectively for the breach of rules. Over £3,000 was also awarded to Waltham Forest Council.
Cllr Khevyn Limbajee, council cabinet member for housing, said in a statement: “This is one of the worst cases of landlords disregarding the law and using people to make money that I have seen.
“This kind of thing can’t be tolerated. The reason we have a licencing scheme is to protect people from unscrupulous landlords.
“In addition to this, because of the terrible state of the home, and the number of occupants inside, it also created additional problems for other residents through noise and rubbish.
“I am really pleased that the court saw fit to hand down such large fines. Landlords are in property to make money, but the idea of exploiting vulnerable tenants and not caring for their well being is shocking and disappointing. Some landlords are lower than low.