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Poor Wolverhampton landlords fined £60,000 in two years

Wolverhampton's worst private landlords were forced to cough up more than £60,000 in fines and costs thanks to prosecutions by the city council in two years.

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Failing to deal with fire hazards, a lack of drainage and not maintaining electricity were among the charges faced by the nine property owners.

Prosecutions also resulted in convictions between January 1, 2015, and December 1 last year, with most cases heard at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court.

Joginder and Rashpal Bains pleaded guilty to a string of failures after tenants had to be moved out by social services.

The pair, who were ordered to pay £34,000, managed a building where all communal lighting was wired through individual flats, the ceiling was deteriorating, the electricity and heating would cut out and there was no emergency lighting.

Eventually, all of the top floor tenants at the property in Merridale Road, Wolverhampton, were moved out after council officers inspected the properties.

Balwant Rai and Raj Kumari, both from Bilston, were also hit with a heavy fine after failing to put right health and safety problems at a property in Carter Road. The pair received fines and costs of more than £5,800 each.

A hearing heard the property, then occupied by a family of five, including three children, was inspected by council housing officers last February, and an improvement notice was issued. Further inspection revealed the landlords had failed to deal with fire hazards, electrical issues, food safety concerns, a lack of drainage and the large build-up of waste to the rear of the property. Other offending landlords included Anita Kumari, who breached an improvement notice in relation to a property in Welling Road. She was ordered to pay £1,006.

Jaspal Singh Sahota paid £7,400 for breachng an emergency prohibition order and an improvement notice for properties in Osier Place and Sherwood Street. Mr Patel paid £4,700 for a management breach for a property in Oaklands Road, while Bela Palmay and Mrs Kang paid £3,603 for a licence and management regulations failure.

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