The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Illegal eviction of city tenant
A ROGUE landlord who illegally evicted a tenant has been warned to get out of the business or he could go to jail.
Mohammed Khubaib (40), of Cambridge Avenue, Peterborough, entered a last-minute guilty plea at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Friday to locking a tenant and her five-year-old child out of their home.
His lawyer, William Powell, told the court that Khubaib had since been strongly advised to get out of the property business following two other similar previous convictions.
He said: “This has to be the end of it. He is running too many risks because he simply can’t grasp all the things he is supposed to do, the regulations, the law etc.
“He is in the last chance saloon and if he doesn’t listen to the advice of his lawyers then it is to prison that he will inevitably be going.”
The court was told that Khubaib ran a company called Beehive Property Management and rented out a house in Axiom Ave- nue, West Town, to Vita Juknaite.
Charles Snelling, prosecuting on behalf of Peterborough City Council, said Miss Juknaite went on a two-week holiday in September 2010, paying the rent, which was normally paid in cash every Friday, up front.
But while she was abroad she was involved in a serious car crash and was told not to travel for another two weeks.
She contacted Khubaib to explain the position and that she would be back in two weeks.
She also asked a friend to keep an eye on the house but when her friend visited there was a sign in the window saying “Police arrest”.
She did not dare go in but when she returned she could see Miss Juknaite’s belongings were bagged up for removal.
On her return to the UK Miss Juknaite found the locks changed, a new tenant was in the house and her belongings had gone.
She complained to the police, who it was said declined to get involved, but the council launched an investigation.
Khubaib denied the charges but minutes before the trial was due to start on Friday he changed his plea.
He was fined £400, made to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £1,250 costs to the council.
He will also pay £2,890 compensation to Miss Juknaite for her furniture and causing distress.
The conviction follows two separate offences for packing too many tenants into a home, once in 2005 and again last year.
Joanne Fowkes, housing enforcement officer for the council, said: “This case should demonstrate that illegally evicting someone is unacceptable and there are procedures which landlords must follow. Tenants have a right to feel secure in their homes.
“Mr Khubaib did not follow the correct processes and that was unacceptable.”
Khubaib will appear at court today to establish how he will pay his fines and compensation which now total about £6,000.