Property Litigation News

International Perspective - Repossession in Panama

The service of a termination notice by the owner of a luxury hotel in Panama got out of hand earlier this month. The hotel was managed by a company owned by Donald Trump.

Property Disputes - Quarterly Update - Spring 2018

The latest edition of our Property Disputes Quarterly Update for Spring 2018

Property Disputes - Questions and Answers - Spring 2018

Your questions answered. How to terminate an existing tenancy when it is a protected business tenancy and can I charge interest on late payments in a commercial lease, when there is nothing about interest in the lease?

Property Disputes - Questions and Answers - Winter 2017

This time round our Property Disputes Q&A touches on court procedures and documentation, lengths you can go to protect your property and the Landlord and Tenants Act.

Property Disputes - Quarterly Update - Winter 2017

You can download the latest edition of our Property Disputes Quarterly Update, Winter 2017 via the link at the bottom of this preview of what is featured.

Overseas Perspective: costly interference

It sounds like the start of a bad joke: a story involving two nuns, Katy Perry, and a convent. But it was no laughing matter when a Los Angeles Court last month ordered a local business woman, Mrs Hollister, to cough up compensation to Katy Perry to the tune of $5 million.

Property Disputes - Quarterly Update - Summer 2017

You can download the latest edition of our Property Disputes Quarterly Update, Summer 2017 via the link at the bottom of this preview of what is featured. Stories include: WHEN DOES "OR" NOT MEAN "OR"? A landlord’s notice...

Property Disputes - Questions and Answers - Summer 2017

I am about to issue a claim against someone and I do not want that person to know my home address. Am I able to give my address as “care of” my solicitors?  The general rule is that a claimant must state on the Claim Form an address at...

When does "or" not mean "or"?

A landlord’s notice was ruled not to have been validly served despite the lease apparently giving the landlord two alternative addresses for service. The case of Grimes v The Trustees of the Essex Farmers & Union Hunt is a case that has driven...

International Perspective: Brooklyn wins fight to preserve mural

A huge mural of The Notorious B.I.G on the side of a house in Brooklyn was set to be destroyed due to the owner’s plans to renovate the building. The Notorious B.I.G. an American rapper who died in 1997 who featured in the mural that was...

Restrictive covenants: the Lands Tribunal or the Court?

The Lands Tribunal has the power under Section 84(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 to modify or remove a restrictive covenant affecting land. There are various grounds for removal or modification. The Tribunal does not however have the power to determine...

Property Disputes - Quarterly Update - Spring

You can download the latest edition of our Property Disputes Quarterly Update, Spring 2017 via the link at the bottom of this preview of what is featured. Stories include: A SOLICITOR COVER UP BUT "NO DISHONESTY" We look at a case where a...

Silence is golden

High Court rules that trying to drown out neighbouring noise nuisance by creating your own noise is unreasonable. In the case of Waltham Forest LBC v Mitoo, the High Court ruled that playing loud music to drown out the noise from local building works was...

Property Disputes Quarterly Update Autumn 2016

You can download the latest edition of our Property Disputes Quarterly Update, Autumn 2016 here . Stories include: YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE A case which shows the importance of providing your tenants with an up to date address for service of...

You can run but you can't hide

A case which shows the importance of providing your tenants with an up to date address for service of notices.   In the case of Levett-Dunn v NHS, the court was asked to determine whether break notices served by a tenant had been validly served where...

Experts stumble and fall in lease renewal proceedings

A recent High Court decision has highlighted the dangers of relying upon inadequate expert evidence in lease renewal proceedings.  The case of Flanders Community Centre Ltd v Newham London Borough Council concerned an unopposed lease renewal of a...

Disrepair And Loss Of Amenity

The Court of Appeal has clarified when you can claim damages for loss of amenity. The case of Moorjani v Durban Estates Limited concerned a flat that was in disrepair because of the landlord’s failure to comply with its repairing obligations. The...

Property Disputes: Your Questions Answered - Winter 2015-16

Question: I am a tenant of a flat in an apartment block containing several flats. My lease is a 999 year lease. Last year, I had to issue proceedings against the landlord to get him to deal with disrepair affecting my flat. I eventually reached a...

Specific Performance - Jumping The Gun?

Specific performance is an order compelling a party to take certain action, often in order to comply with its contractual obligations.  Although it is a remedy that is usually sought after a party has breached its contract, a recent case confirmed that...

International Perspective - Trols Povlsen

There was once a time when the arrival of Vikings on these shores was met with quite understandable concern.  Pillaging and looting was never a rewarding experience for those on the receiving end.  But how times have changed.  The previously...

Expert witness knocked senseless

The Court has recently issued one of the most damning criticisms of an expert witness that has been seen for quite some time (Van Oord UK Ltd v Allseas UK Ltd).  Any expert witnesses of a nervous disposition, look away now. The case in question...

Autumn Budget Update - How it could affect your Property.

In today’s Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced that from 1 April 2016 buy-to-let landlords and people buying second homes will face paying Stamp Duty Land Tax at a rate 3% above the current rate.  There will be exemptions for certain types...

Negligent valuations - the blame game

A valuer produces a negligent overvaluation of residential property. The lender relies upon that valuation and then sues its solicitors when it discovers that the valuation was wrong. Barking mad? Not so thought the High Court in Goldsmith Williams...

Trouble in Paradise

A naturist resort. A chalet. And a modest plot of land. Those were the subjects of the hotly contested case of Spielplatz Limited –v- Pearson. The legal issues that were laid bare during the proceedings centred on whether the chalet was a chattel or...

International Perspective - New York and 'tenant relocators'

The real estate market in New York is booming. So much so that tenants of rent-regulated apartments are being harassed by landlords and by professional “tenant re-locators” who are trying to persuade them to move out so that they can re-let and...

Hitting the Forfeiture Jackpot

The landlord in the case of Freifeld –v- West Kensington Court Limited could hardly believe its luck. The landlord was faced with a situation where its tenant had breached its lease by underletting the premises in deliberate breach of covenant. The...

International Perspective - Lessons from Berlin?

On 1 June 2015, Berlin began enforcing rent controls preventing landlords from charging  over  10% more  than  the  local  average  rent  for  new tenants.   The chairman of  the Berlin ...

Breaking and entering - is it worth it?

According to the Court of Appeal, the answer to this question in the case of Mr Best is “yes!”. Mr Best has emerged victorious from the Court of Appeal with the court having confirming that Mr Best is entitled to snaffle ownership of a property...

Forfeiture: the residential spanner in the works?

Forfeiting a lease of commercial premises can be as simple as changing the locks.  But in the case of residential premises, a landlord has to tread with much greater care. Changing the locks is not an option. So says the Protection from Eviction Act...

Property Disputes: Professional In the Hot Seat

We caught up with David Carter, Chief Executive of the Sheriffs Office, to find out more about the life of a sheriff. Describe your typical working day.    Personally, I’m no early bird and prefer to work late into the evening, including...

Property Disputes: Your Questions Answered

QUESTION: I have served a Section 25 Notice under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954on my tenant.   The expiry date contained in the Notice has now passed but there have been several extensions of that date.  We are now four months beyond the...

Service charge sting in the tail

The Supreme Court has this week dismissed an appeal brought by a group of lessees challenging the interpretation of service charge clauses.   The lessees are long leaseholders of holiday chalets at Oxwich Leisure Park near Swansea.  The...

Service with a smile

In that elusive happy–go-lucky world where landlords and tenants co-exist in blissful harmony, serving formal notices on each other is probably unnecessary. No doubt, a cup of tea and a friendly chat achieves the same purpose. But in the real world of...

When your tenant just won't let go...

Forfeiture is a powerful weapon for a landlord. One breach and the tenant can be booted out. But what happens if you kick that commercial tenant out and he comes banging on the door demanding to be let in again? Is he down as well as out?  ...

There's always a way

If you have a right of way over neighbouring land and you stop using it for a long period of time, perhaps several years or more, will you eventually be regarded as having abandoned your right of way?   The answer is no. Non-use, even for many years,...

Putting a value on 33 years of cohabitation

The Court of Appeal has recently awarded a cohabitee a 25% beneficial interest in a property solely owned by her partner despite the Court finding that her financial contribution had been “insignificant” In the recent Court of Appeal case of...

Break or bust

Conditional break clauses continue to haunt tenants. Once again, a tenant has been stung by onerous break clause conditions that were virtually impossible to comply with ( Sirhowy Investments Limited v Henderson & Knight ). Mr Henderson and Miss...

Warning To Landlords - Do Not Delay Tenant's Requests

Paul Engelbrecht, Commercial Property Solicitor in Cheltenham advises that Landlords must think carefully, and quickly, in considering a request for the assignment, or transfer of a lease. Failure to do so could result in costly consequences. The Court of...

No contract, no problem!

The judgment in the recent case of Rendlesham Estates Plc v Barr Limited illustrates how the Defective Premises Act 1972 can make a building contractor liable to a subsequent occupier of a dwelling, even where there is no contractual relationship between...

Taking no notice

It is not often that someone can say that they got lucky in the highest court in the land. But Mr Telchadder who was the subject of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Telchadder v Wickland Holdings Limited had a very lucky escape. The Telchadder case...

Promises not forgotten

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a cohabitee was entitled to a slice of the equity in a property owned in her partner’s sole name and to which she made no financial contribution. The case of Southwell v Blackburn has served as a reminder to...

Expert witnesses - sitting ducks?

A number of recent cases have seen expert witnesses stumble and fall. When acting as an expert witness, your primary duty is to assist the court. Assisting the court may seem straightforward but there have been a number of remarkable cases of experts...

Beware the tenant booby trap

Tread carefully when dealing with an outgoing tenant’s possessions. As a landlord, recovering possession of your property from a troublesome tenant is often a cause for celebration.  But those celebrations can come to a shuddering halt when...

Nightmare at Elm Street

New legislation is aimed at helping residential landlords to recover possession. Consider the following scenario.  You are a landlord of a terraced property on a quiet residential street.  Your tenant is 3 months into his 12 month...

Warning: Break Clauses In Leases - Respite For Tenants?

Paul Engelbrecht, Director and Head of Commercial Property at Hughes Paddison Solicitors, advises that there has been a recent flurry of cases where tenants have failed to persuade the Courts that they have complied with the conditions necessary to exercise...

When tenancy agreements go sour: help for landlords

Evicting a tenant who has stopped paying their rent or broken the terms of the tenancy agreement can be more difficult and time consuming than many people imagine.  In many cases, landlords must go to court to regain possession of their property. ...