Neighbour thinks I am renting property to an ‘ex-offender’

[Eastie77]

I own a flat in a low rise building which I am currently renting to a young couple. Attempted to sell but buyer fell through and as we have moved to another property I have temporarily let it out.

The company that manage the building recently enlisted a firm to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment. On one page of the report entitled ‘Occupancy’ there is a list of different types of occupants (Elderly, Wheelchair Users etc) with Yes/No to indicate categories of people living in the block. Under the category Ex-Offenders there is a ‘Yes’.

One of my former neighbours has sent me an an angry e-mail stating that he is assuming that one of my tenants is the ex-offender as he knows most of the other people in the building and it is extremely disappointing that I’ve put everyone’s safety at risk.

So firstly: how on earth would the company who carried out the assessment know if someone in the building has a criminal record??
I'm wondering if it is even legal to publish this kind of irrelevant information in a report like this or if it could be a typo/error.

I have no idea if either of my tenants have a criminal record (I used a letting agency to find them) but if the ex-offender exists he/she could be anyone in the building, including one of the long established leaseholders my neighbour ‘knows’ and I have pointed this out to him. He has sent an unpleasant rambling response just repeating comments about the fact I've introduced criminality into the building.

Does anyone know if the fire assessment company could have discovered this kind of information...?

I think I would be tempted to write back to the neighbour saying that even serial killers need forgiveness....

I can’t see how the Fire Risk people would know unless the building was, for example, a halfway house, designated for ex-offenders. Or one of the flats was officially used for a similar purpose. They can’t possibly know about individuals.

I would tell your nosy neighbour that many people have criminal convictions (give a link to the stats if you want) and that most of them are for crimes like tax fraud or driving offences (I'm guessing that most of them are) which would in no way make them a bad or dangerous neighbour. Having said that, you can assure nosy neighbour that your tenants do not have a criminal conviction and, indeed, they are extremely upset that you are telling other residents that they do. Nosy neighbour needs to stop immediately or they will be reported for slander/libel and harassment. Harassment is a crime and can lead to conviction and a criminal record.