By Adrian Mclellan And Sammie Jones-
Southend Council has shut down the rent allowances of convicted rogue landlord, Robert Crowe.
In a blow to the Essex landlord, convicted and fined in September for multiple breaches of an HMO property, the property of Robert Crow has been blocked from receiving any payments from state money. Crow, 69, was previously in receipt of housing benefit and DWP money to accommodate the homeless, but was fined a huge £44,000 fine when he appeared before Magistrates on September 3, a few months ago.
Essex’s most notorious landlord did not turn up to court on that occasion, claiming that the trial was set to be prejudiced against him and that he had lodged an appeal. He had previously been fined £39,000 in May, 2016 for similar breaches of an HMO property and was paying the fine in stages on a monthly basis. The landlord, whose property is described as a tip by many of those who have attended the property, vowed to pursue improvements after The Eye Of Media.Com strongly criticized his running of the property during one of our visits in July.
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He has since made improvements to the previously unsightly staircase leading to his property, but the front garden is still a state. Mr. Crowe also turned down a request by this publication to conduct a close inside inspection of his property late this evening before we wrote this article.
Crowe was banned from allowing visitors to his property by Magistrates after the ruling and Southend Council later gave him an elaborated court order stating that he was not allowed to rent his property to the homeless because of the state of the property.However, Crow said on Wednesday night that he did not believe the legitimacy of the elaborated court order.
”The amended court order wasn’t even signed, he said, nor was it dated. It counts for nothing to me. This is a council acting like gangsters, they are trying to bankrupt me”, he told this publication in a frantic phone call in which his tone was raised, clearly very angry with the decision.
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The self professed humanitarian who was told by the Chelmsford judge in his first case that his property was a ‘squalor’ and that his tenants were better off in the streets insists his property is not an HMO and that he is being unfairly victimized by the Council.
Initial inquiries by this publication earlier in the year indicated that his property was not in fact an HMO because he lives in the property, making those living in his property lodgers. However, it is unclear what the state of the property was at the time of his first conviction in 2016, and his last conviction in September appears to have been base don the property being a cross between an HMO and a 257 for self contained flats.
Today, mr Crowe learnt that all of his benefits and DWP money has been stopped, meaning that he no longer can rent his flats to the homeless. The eye of media.com first heard about Crow’s story after he contacted us to investigate Southend Council whom he accused of being corrupt, and we began the process, with some co-operation from the Council. The required co-operation wasn’t always complete, but after occasional altercations between mr Crow and some members of our team over issues of dispute, our investigation was stalled.
Crowe has been knocked of rent money by several of his former lodgers over the months. This most recent decision by Southend Council will potentially crush his renting business, but most people believe he is not a suitable landlord. He may be forced to close down, but mr. Crow who has provided a roof for many of the town’s homeless people is determined to fight for what he believes is his rights.
Crowe is due in Basildon crown Court tomorrow to stand before a judge for an oral discussion about his appeal application.
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