A buy-to-let landlord in east London has been ordered to repay more than £5,000 to tenants she illegally evicted them after cutting off their electricity and changing the locks.
Gloria Nolte was found liable for a £5,055 repayment by a government property tribunal. The case was brought by mother and daughter Anita and Yazmin Summan, who claimed they endured verbal abuse, poor living conditions, and an illegal eviction while renting a two-bedroom property on Sturge Avenue, Walthamstow.
It was alleged that the property was infested with mice, had loose electrical sockets, and a noisy boiler. It also found the home was not properly licensed. The tenants also claimed that the electricity supply could be accessed by a neighbour.
The dispute was triggered after Anita fell into rent arrears totalling £17,000. She claimed harassment from the landlord and her husband contributed to her decision to stop paying rent, alongside financial hardship and ill health.
According to the tribunal, Anita lost her job in November 2023 and said she had to rely on family and friends for financial support as she did not receive Universal Credit.
During cross-examination, Anita said she withheld rent to save money for an alternative property after a falling-out with the landlord.
When she and her daughter Yazmin were evicted last spring, they were forced to leave possessions behind after the locks were changed without legal notice.
The landlord denied the accusations and argued that she was owed the rent arrears in full. Her representatives described the repayment penalty as excessive, claiming Nolte had been forced to pay her mortgage with a credit card due to the tenants’ non-payment.
In his judgement, Judge Shepherd acknowledged the illegal eviction and poor property conditions but also criticised the tenants for failing to honour their rental agreement. He ruled that Nolte likely changed the locks in “desperation” due to the growing arrears.
He said: “Applying the other criteria under the Act, there was evidence of poor conduct by the Respondent. We consider that the premises were in disrepair and there probably was an unlawful eviction in April 2024. However, we also consider that the substantial arrears incurred by the Applicants after the relevant period demonstrated very poor conduct on their part.”
Judge Shepherd awarded Anita 30% of the £16,850 rent she had paid during the tenancy, amounting to £5,055. No additional compensation was granted to cover application and hearing fees.
You can read the full judgement here.
Not condoning the landlord’s actions and not knowing the full facts such as how £17,000 rent arrears accrued without notice being served, most landlords will understand the frustration. Renters Rights will surely see more landlords taking direct action if the court delays continue. Why is the PRS the only sector where online action will not be possible when the customer fails to pay what is due, i.e. the rent? Fall behind on your mortgage, mobile phone bill, car loan and companies can take action quickly to finish the service but not tenancies?
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Because the Govt are aware that the Councils and LHA’s cannot cope without the PRS and that if a Court issues the possession warrant then they are legally obliged to house them. So they want to delay that happening for as long as possible… Which is odd when you consider how a lot of their proposed plans are going to drive out Landlords from the PRS!
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The property market in the UK is so incredibly dysfunctional – both sales and lettings.
Selling off social housing from the mid 1980’s onwards has proved to be an absolute disaster. But then again so has the selling off of all of the country’s other assets such as the railways, water, gas and electric.
The mind boggles at the complete ineptitude of our government over the last 50 years or so.
The answer is absolutely NOT naked capitalism. The last 50 years have proved this.
What we need is socially managed capitalism with a government that invests the wealth of the country back into the country. Unfortunately, having already sold off the family silver, the country is in a very poor financial condition indeed. With successive governments voted in on sound-bite populist ideals it is becoming almost impossible to achieve.
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That’s why I was happy to see two female prime ministers, as they were of the age/generation where women managed the household and finances, and I thought that they would be able to at least start repairing the damage… that didn’t really work out…
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Suspect you’re one of those which voted for the car crash which is the Labour party. God help us.
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The lefty woke agenda is going to finish us off, 650 mps and 100,000’s of civil servants justifying their positions by constantly making rules up and the bickering amongst themselves will sadly mean the WEF win, “you will own nothing and be happy” .
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exactly
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I would like to know if the tenants who were £17,000 in debt were issued a CCJ. The only reason the tenant was refused UC would be because she was not financially deserving.
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As a landlord and letting agent myself This story just shows that common sense no longer exists. What should have happened is the judge should have applied the 5k to the 17k that was owed and ruled that they now owed 12k.
Going forward this blinkered government are set to make things 100 times worse. Anything they are planning with the reform of our industry is going to spell disaster and seriously cause misery for the very people they purport to be helping. My kids at university a few years ago argued with me about why I supported the tories. They and their left mates at the time were all pro labour, which is easy when you don’t pay any rent or your own way. Fast forward a couple of years now they have families of their own and all of a sudden they’re horrified they ever even thought this would be the better way. The Tories certainly aren’t without blame but we need a party ( and leader) with courage to make things right like Trump is clearly doing in the USA. Trump has his (many) faults but I’d have him over here any day over these snow flake liars. Disgraceful.
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