Landlords fined for string of faults

A COUPLE have been prosecuted for failing to make repairs to their rented property or keep safety measures up-to-date.

Husband and wife landlords, Kassim and Shalina Kurbanali, were each ordered to pay £1,284 after being convicted of two offences for non-compliance with an improvement notice.

In 2013 borough council officers inspected tenanted property the couple owned on Brinsworth Road, Catcliffe, and discovered a catalogue of faults.

These included loose fitting doors and windows, damaged roofing which was causing dampness, leaking toilet systems and a loose fitting shower cubicle.

The property also had no current electrical or gas safety certificates.

Despite assurances from the Kurbanalis that all the faults in the property would be rectified no work was completed by them.

The council then served an improvement notice on the couple under the 2004 Housing Act, which required them to undertake the repair works.

When this approach failed and the necessary repair works were not carried out, they were prosecuted.

Rotherham Magistrates' Court heard that the property on Brinsworth Road was subsequently sold at auction in November 2013, having been repossessed by the couple's bank.

The couple were each fined £500 for both offences, ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge and costs of £184.