ANY LAWYERS AROUND PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ohgreatnowwhat]

SIL has been running a pub for a man for approximately two years.

Yesterday night he closed one of his other pubs and arrived at the pub she is living at and running claiming he has come to take over the pub as she has stolen money from him. She has found he has emptied the business account and that there is no money in there. He claims she has taken the money and not paid all the bills. She has paperwork to show all the deposits she has made and any withdrawals she has made too. There are large withdrawals he has made shown and these can be traced as going into his private bank account.

He is refusing to allow her access to any of her possessions and is not allowing the family access to their food and drink in the kitchen. She is not sure what she needs to do for the best. My instincts are for her to leave and not stay there but he is threatening not to allow her to return and therefore she will loose all her possessions and be homeless. She does not have anywhere she can live. We can put her up temporarily but as we are 4 people and a dog already in a small two bed semi we can not put up a family of seven for long.

Any advice especially by lawyers greatly received.

A single incident is never harassment, you need at least two.

i think she means harassment in a broader term than the actual legal definition hairy

you are correct that the actual legal definition is 2 incidents within a 6 month period but i believe that zhen is referring to the whole incident in terms of the ops sister being harassed out of the property by the accusations.

Harrassment under landlord/tenant law (Protection from Eviction Act, 1977) is different to other types of harrassment, you do not need two incidents.

Harassment can include anything which prevents you living safely and peacefully in your home. It is:

An action by a landlord or someone acting on their behalf

It is likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of someone who has a legal right to live in a property.

It breaches your right to ?quiet enjoyment?, which means the right to live peacefully in your home. If anyone interferes with this right they could be committing a criminal offence.

Examples of Harassment (I have highlighted ones experienced by OP's SIL)

Entering your home when you are not there or without your permission

Persistently asking you to leave

Threatening you to make you leave, or offering you money to leave

Removing or restricting utility supplies such as water, gas or electricity supplies or failing to pay bills so that they are eventually disconnected

Forcing you to sign agreements which are designed to reduce your rights

Allowing the property to fall into such a bad state of repair that it becomes uncomfortable or even dangerous to live in

Refusing to let you into certain parts of your home, or letting you in, or letting you use facilities only at certain times

Harassment because of your race, sex or sexuality.

well i have learned something! ta!

Forewarned is forearmed, always good to know your rights :)

thank you everybody lot's more reading for me tonight

I am not going to argue semantics.
From what we are told, it is clear that the landlord is guilty of an offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.
If he comes back tomorrow it will then be harassment contrary to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it matters little if has today or not.

And if it is as OP says it is, that he has emptied the account, then there is also fraud.
On that though, do not jump the gun as maybe you have a case of ID fraud and it is someone else who has emptied the account.

That is the scenario you should be looking at as it assumes all the known parties are innocent(ish).

Call the bank first thing.

What a nightmare for them :( I hope they can get it sorted out tomorrow. It is horrible when you live & work in the same place as everything is bound up in the one thing.

True enough.
On the plus side, we have laws to protect us from such things... for the moment at least.
OP is still protected against unfair dismissal.

not going well benefits office shut and waiting for housing to ring us back so we can go down there

Hang on, I've lost the plot now: why do you need the benefits and housing office?

We have established that he has no legal right to kick you out without due process, and to leave in the face of a false accusation, rather than confront that accusation seems a little suspect to my mind.

The bank should have a record of who drew out the money (or at least which card was used). I assume it was more than £300 so was over the counter rather than a cash machine.
If the landlord has drawn it and is claiming SIL did it then he must be pretty stupid if he thinks he'll get away with it.

Have you spoken to the bank yet?

yes, surely if this is all fabricated she should be staying and fighting her corner?

it is unfair dismissal but these things all take time primarily she has no housing due to it being tied to her occupation and no money due to him withholding it.

Thank you Zhen for all your advice I have pm'd you with update