Rent Smart Wales

Landlord ordered to pay back rent

 A Welsh landlord had been ordered to give back almost £4,000 that was paid to him while operating without a licence.

The financial consequences of failing to comply with Rent Smart Wales are hitting home for Lee Jones of Albion Road, Baglan, Port Talbot after the Residential Property Tribunal (Wales) awarded the full sum applied for by Rent Smart Wales in their application for a Rent Repayment Order.

Earlier this year, Mr Jones pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates Court to operating as an unregistered and unlicensed landlord and was fined and ordered to pay costs of over £400. Mr Jones now faces having to repay a further total of £3,983.44, the amount of housing benefit he received for the tenants in his property between February and December 2017.

Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, all landlords with property in Wales must register with Rent Smart Wales while self-managing landlords and agents must also be licensed. Under the legislation, applications can be submitted to the Residential Property Tribunal (Wales), the independent tribunal for resolving disputes relating to private rented and leasehold property, to claim back any rent paid during the period a landlord was unlicensed.

Cllr Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Cardiff Council, the single licensing authority for Rent Smart Wales, said: “This is a first for Rent Smart Wales – the first Rent Repayment Order for an unlicensed landlord and another avenue we can pursue for those who have been convicted of non-compliance with the scheme. It is not fair for landlords who evade compliance to benefit financially from operating illegally, while the vast majority of landlords are complying.

“This first Rent Repayment Order should serve at a stark warning to the minority of landlords who continue to be unlicensed. They face not only prosecution for non-compliance, which if successful will result in a fine and a criminal record, but if convicted, they could also be handed a Rent Repayment Order to hit them in the pocket.”

Gorchymyn i landlord dalu rhent yn ôl

Gorchmynnwyd landlord o Gymru i dalu’n ôl bron £4,000 a dalwyd iddo wrth iddo weithredu’n ddidrwydded.

Mae canlyniadau ariannol methu cydymffurfio â Rhentu Doeth Cymru yn digwydd i Lee Jones o Albion Road, Baglan, Port Talbot ar ôl i’r Tribiwnlys Eiddo Preswyl (Cymru) ddyfarnu’r swm cyfan y gofynnodd Rhentu Doeth Cymru amdano yn eu cais am Orchymyn Ad-dalu Rhent.

Yn gynharach eleni, plediodd Mr Jones yn euog yn Llys Ynadon Caerdydd i weithredu fel landlord didrwydded nas cofrestrir a chafodd ddirwy a gorchymyn i dalu costau gwerth dros £400. Mae Mr Jones bellach yn wynebu gorfod ad-dalu cyfanswm pellach o £3,983.44, swm y budd-dal tai a gafodd gan denantiaid ei eiddo rhwng Chwefror a Rhagfyr 2017.

Dan Ddeddf Tai (Cymru) 2014, rhaid i bob landlord ag eiddo yng Nghymru gofrestru â Rhentu Doeth Cymru a rhaid i landlordiaid ac asiantau sy’n hunanreoli hefyd feddu ar drwydded. Dan y ddeddfwriaeth, gall ceisiadau gael eu cyflwyno i’r Tribiwnlys Eiddo Preswyl (Cymru), y tribiwnlys annibynnol ar gyfer datrys gwrthdaro o ran eiddo rhent a phrydles breifat, i hawlio’n ôl unrhyw rent a dalwyd yn ystod y cyfnod yr oedd y landlord yn ddidrwydded.

Dywedodd Aelod Cabinet Tai a Chymunedau Cyngor Caerdydd, yr awdurdod trwyddedu sengl dros Rentu Doeth Cymru,  y Cyng. Lynda Thorne: “Dyma garreg filltir i Rentu Doeth Cymru, y tro cyntaf i Orchymyn Ad-dalu Rhent gael ei dalu gan landlord didrwydded. Mae’n fodd arall i ni fynd ar ôl y sawl sydd heb gydymffurfio â’r cynllun. Nid yw’n deg i landlordiaid sy’n gwrthod cydymffurfio gael budd ariannol o weithredu’n anghyfreithlon tra bod y lliaws yn gwneud hynny.

“Dylai’r Gorchymyn Ad-dalu Rhent cyntaf hwn fod yn rhybudd i leiafrif y landlordiaid sy’n aros yn ddidrwydded. Maen nhw’n wynebu cael eu herlyn am ddiffyg cydymffurfiaeth, ac os bydd yn llwyddiannus bydd yn arwain at ddirwy a chofnod troseddol, ond gallent hefyd gael Gorchymyn Ad-dalu Rhent.”