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Three students who were chased by a landlord demanding payment of rent after their housemate tragically died in the property have won their court case. The three were sharing a student house owned by Student Lettings Agency run by Werner Toogood when their close friend, Rob Chavda, was found dead in his bed following a brain haemorrhage.
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Students Traumatised by Death
The three were all deeply traumatised by the death and refused to return to the property. They informed Mr Toogood that they wanted him to find them another home, but when this did not happen, the trio were rehoused by the university and given counselling. However, Mr Toogood demanded that they pay the remaining five months of rent outstanding on their tenancy, which amounted to £6,529. A fourth student paid up to avoid going to court, but the other three were forced to defend themselves when the landlord took legal action against them to recover the debt.
Payment Plan
Mr Toogood wrote to the students after the tragedy, expressing sympathy for their plight, but refusing to waive the debt. He also wrote to the parents of the dead student offering a two-year payment plan for the outstanding rent on their son’s account.
Unfortunately for the landlord, the judge ruled that since he had undertaken extensive renovation work very soon after the students moved out, he had effectively repossessed the property and the former tenants were not liable for any further rental payments.
“We were amazed that as a landlord of over 200 properties in Canterbury and the director of a letting agency that he didn’t understand implied surrender and brought this action to court for rents he wasn’t entitled to,” said the father of one of the students.
