Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about information the Council gave him on tenants he rented a property too, or support the Council provided those tenants. That is because his complaints are late. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council will not reimburse him for damage he states the tenants caused to his property. That is because it is reasonable for Mr X to claim through his insurance or take court action to recover costs for damage.

The complaint

1. Mr X is a private landlord. He complained the Council failed to complete reference checks on tenants before he became their landlord in May 2020. He complained the Council also failed to provide support to the tenants. Mr X said the tenants damaged his property that resulted in the Council issuing him two improvement notices. He said they also damaged his vehicles and threatened him. Mr X said he had to evict the tenants.
2. Mr X said the Council has refused to financially reimburse him for the damage caused to the property which is in excess of £200,000.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
7. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to complete reference checks on the tenants before he became their landlord and that it did not provide the tenants with appropriate support. Mr X rented his property to the tenants from May 2020. The Council’s complaint response states he first complained in November 2020 about his tenants. Therefore, this is a late complaint as the matters occurred more than 12 months ago. It was reasonable for Mr X to have complained to us sooner.
11. In any event, even if the complaint was not late, we would not investigate. The Council said it did not complete reference checks for landlords. It confirmed its Housing Service had no concerning information about the tenants’ behaviour from previous tenancies. It said Mr X agreed to let the property after a successful viewing. It said it provided the tenants’ support. There is not enough evidence of fault in the information the Council gave Mr X to justify our involvement.
12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council responded to damage caused by the tenants through an improvement notice. In the Council’s complaint response, it said it issued Mr X two improvement notices in October and December 2021. Not only are any complaints about these notices late, they are also outside our jurisdiction, as the Residential Property Tribunal deals with disputes about improvement notices issued under the Housing Act 2004.
13. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council has said it will not reimburse him for damage caused to his property. The Council confirmed it provided Mr X a tenancy agreement as he did not have a printer. However, it said that tenancy agreement was a private contract between Mr X and his tenants. Therefore, there is nothing to suggest the Council is at fault in its decision not to pay Mr X for any damage caused. In any event, Mr X’s claim for financial reimbursement for damages to property are best dealt with either through his insurance or the courts.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because most of the complaint is late and it is reasonable for him to claim for damage to his property through his insurance or the courts.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman