London

Increasingly, landlords are falling prey to a new breed of tenants who move in and then exploit the legal system to get away with thousands of pounds in unpaid rent.

Inside Out spoke to three landlords who had all had problems with the same tenant, Mr Anthony Alexander.

They all eventually evicted him from their properties, but only after incurring large legal costs and losses in unpaid rent.

Gruelling battle

Declan Harkin and his wife underwent a gruelling 15 month legal battle after Mr Alexander stopped paying them rent.

During this process, Mr Alexander used a range of excuses to prolong the eviction proceedings.

He lodged appeal after appeal, claiming not to have paid rent because of the poor condition of the flat, and that he needed more time to find somewhere to move to.

Legal loophole - being exploited.

The appeals were dismissed, but allowed him to delay his eviction for months.

"I am so upset that someone can do that to a family that hard working. It just breaks my heart to think that someone can come along and do that to you", Samantha Harkin said.

Mr Alexander’s latest landlord lives overseas, and she has hired Paul Shamplina from the organisation Landlord Action to try and evict Mr Alexander.

She claims that he owes her a substantial amount in rent arrears.

But because of Mr Alexander’s legal objections, it took seven months since the possession order was granted to reach the eviction day.

Mr Alexander returned the keys for this property, but according to the owner he still owes around £26,000 in rent.

Avoiding nightmare situations

Inside Out estimates that his three previous landlords are collectively owed around £68,000, excluding legal fees.

But there will be no black mark against Mr Alexander’s name, because he hasn’t had a County Court Judgement registered against him.

Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action.

These are only registered if the landlord takes steps to enforce payment, and usually tenants don’t have the funds to make it worthwhile to pursue them.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) estimate they now receive 50 calls a month in relation to 'Professional Bad Tenants' like Mr Alexander.

They’re trying to arm landlords with the right knowledge to help them avoid nightmare situations.

"Your property may be worth £1/4m. Can you imagine lending someone that amount and not doing a thorough check on them?

"You just wouldn’t do it", says Maryann Pearce of the NLA.

In extreme cases, landlords have even had tenants turning their flats into brothels or S & M sex dungeons.