An angry landlord who used a chainsaw to cut through the front door of a property he owns to evict a non paying tenant has said he is not afraid of the potential legal consequences of his actions.
Samuel Leeds took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video of him cutting a huge hole in the PVC front door of one of his properties with a chainsaw.
In the clip the landlord can be seen cutting a rectangular shape into the door, before kicking it in.
“This is what happens when you stop paying and refuse to leave my property,” he wrote. “Sue me. You’re a guest and have no rights.”
Speaking to the Daily Star, Leeds said most people that pay to stay in his properties are legally not tenants, but guests because they stay there on a Guest Terms of Hire, not the usual Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) contract.
“They have the same rights as people staying at a hotel. If they don’t pay, they simply can’t stay,” he said.
And asked if he was afraid of any legal reprisals, Leeds said that he backs himself.
“I am not at all worried about legal troubles. I took rigorous legal advice before entering the property and have a large team of lawyers that work for me. I’ve been to court many times and always win,” he said.
“Most of my tenants are fabulous, but the odd bad one give tenants a bad name,” he added.
Note: When first published this story referred to Samuel Leeds as ‘co-owner’ of Property Tribes. We have been asked to clarify that Samuel Leeds interest is related to Property Tribes Ltd. No share transfer has yet been publicly recorded at Companies House.
Oh,
He might well be correct and might gain support from ‘Tribe Members’ but it has a whiff of mis judgement, the team of lawyers he has probably didn’t advise him to get the chainsaw fired up.
Jonnie
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Some people are funny!
Publicity stunt?
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Whilst we might think he’s right to get his property back and if he’s had bad tenants that are taking the proverbial then good on him… I can’t help but wonder if he attracts trouble seeing as he’s “been to court many times”?
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I LOVE IT!
That is just a piece of foam painted up as a door you know right?……. 😀
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Thats the infill panel on a PVCU door, it’s how they are. Just plastic outer skins over polystyrene. A new panel is about £200 I think.
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Violence and aggression are never an answer, no matter what the situation.
There are legal routes to getting tenants and guests removed without taking the law into your own hands.
This property trainer brings responsible landlords into disrepute and is not a voice for them in my opinion.
This publicity stunt does not deal with the detail and, alarmingly, I’ve seen other people commenting on this news story and sharing other ways of illegally evicting tenants.
The most worrying thing is the lack of enforcement when tenants are illegally evicted by criminal landlords.
No doubt this video will be used by the likes of Shelter to further bash landlords. *Sigh*
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I think the use of Licenses or “Guest Agreements” shows that Mr Leeds really needs to get some training as a landlord to ensure he is using appropriate agreements. Perhaps he should visit Property Tribes to upskill in tenancy law.
That said it doesn’t really matter if he wants to call it a Guest Agreement as a court will determine the tenancy type based on the facts, not what you decide is most expedient to call it.
Most likely this is an ended tenancy anyway – and a blatant copy or another landlord cutting a door open with a chainsaw.
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I note that he first of all states that people in his properties are not tenants but guests and therefore not entitled to the same protections as tenants but in his final statement says; ” Most of my tenants are fabulous ….”
So, Sam, are they guests or tenants?
I can’t help feelingthat if it was as simple as his staements in the article suggest to get around the normal lanlord and tenant relationship and avoid tenats rights by simply describing them as guests staying on a Guest Terms of Hire, wouldn’t more landlords do that? Would the courts really really go along with that approach?
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The courts would take a dim view. There’s clear case law on this – Mountford V Street – and this will likely cause issues for the landlord.
It’s an easy get out and mostly just bluster by Samual Leeds but there’s a few things why this is a bad idea.
Insurance. The landlords insurance policy most likely won’t cover a tenancy setup that isn’t an AST.
Planning. You’d need planning for C1 use.
Mortgage. You would need to own outright with no lending, or would need a specific loan for a hotel type operation, a typical BTL loan wouldn’t allow this.
As other commenters here and on youtube and Property Tribes have said, this is just Samual Leeds cashing in on another landlord evicting with a chainsaw and likely an ill thought out publicity stunt. The GB news video on youtube in particular is a car crash interview – Mr Leeds comes across as cocky and arrogant and in my opinion comes across as a really bad example of a landlord. He’s set the cause of landlords back a few years and given ammo to the likes of Shelter.
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A team of lawyers at his disposal giving ‘rigorous advice’ that don’t know that you can’t put people on a guest license when the property is their primary residence!?! If this is a prank it’s not funny (more mis-directed anger generated) and if it’s real the leve;l of ignorance and arrogance is bewildering- I hope they chuck the book at him.
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Happy Christmas one & all!
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This is a dangerous way to use a chainsaw, with high potential for serious injury.
A cut off saw would be a better tool for the job. Propertymark need to step up here and run some workshops on this before someone gets hurt.
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Turning up with a B&Q Titan and a 16″ bar established matey’s credibility beyond any doubt or reason.
The MS462 is what you need for that job; if his pitch is he’s rescuing guests and lost the key to his own front door they’re bound to let him buy one
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