Blog Post
Couple who refused to pay rent ‘not unusual’
A couple who lived rent-free in houses for 18 months are not unusual, says Paul Shamplina of eviction service Landlord Action.
The pair, Richard and Hazel Jerome, posed as wealthy homebuyers. They made cash offers to buy properties and then asked to rent them while the deal went through.
They moved in and then claimed squatters’ rights whilst paying no rent or utility bills. The couple are known to have lived in at least two houses in this way and police believe there could have been more.
Both were found guilty at Huntingdon Crown Court, where the man was sent to jail for 15 months and his wife, a former teacher, given a suspended prison sentence.
Shamplina said there were plenty of tenants like the Jeromes.
He said: “We have evicted many professional bad tenants over the years who simply go from one property to another duping landlords into renting their properties while having no intention of paying.
“The worst serial bad tenant that we have dealt with conned five landlords and owed a total of £120,000.”
But don’t worry we at PAD4u have strict criteria for finding tenants are we are sure this could not happen to one of our landlords.
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