Campaign to help tenants facing illegal eviction in Scotland

With an increasing number of evictions occurring across Scotland, some of them are questionable if not outright illegal. Many tenants are not aware of their rights and responsibilities, so in an effort to try to help families the Illegal Eviction – Know Your Rights campaign was created. The bottom line is that it is a criminal offence to illegally evict a tenant, and families due have rights. If the law is not followed, they can report housing issues to Scotland Crimestoppers.

Many organisations such as Shelter Scotland, Scottish Association of Landlords, and even the Police are supporting the initiative. It is available across the nation, and the aim is to prevent homelessness from occurring when there is no need for it to happen. The authorities estimate that thousands of illegal evictions happen each year, and many go unreported. The aim is to stop this from occurring.

Landlords will often treat their tenants with respect. They will follow the law and act professionally. However with the growing private rented sector in Glasgow and across Scotland, there are some landlords that cut corners. The campaign was created to address address them.

Most of the private sector housing landlords do not illegally evict tenants, but for those that do, the results are devastating to the family. The person being kicked out of the home may not have other accommodations available to them and may need to sleep on the streets. Other individuals could face a health or safety crisis from lack of housing. So by giving more information on rights and responsibilities to both tenants and landlords, this will help protect both parties.

For example, Illegal Eviction – Know Your Rights will ensure tenants know that landlords can’t change the locks on a flat and that they are not allowed to disconnect their electricity. They also need to provide notice to the tenant. Landlords, or people that work for them, also can’t threaten the tenants in an effort to collect any arrears. So these type of actions, and ones that are like it, are illegal.

Those actions and more are not allowed. All landlords need to find follow the rules and regulations, and they can’t remove tenants from their homes without following the laws. The campaign will try to communicate the fact that all private tenants are protected by the law in Scotland.

There is a telephone line available 24 hours per day that people can call. They can either report an illegal eviction that someone else is facing, or they can get help with their own issue. The Scotland Crimestoppers should be notified, and the phone number is 0800 555 111. This is a serious crime. The landlord can be fined, or maybe they can even go to jail. So some type of action will be taken.