Private landlords and illegal immigrants

I can see absolutely no problem with having to check whether people are illegal are not. It just makes sense! Nothing to do with racism

Everyone moans about the load put on the country by immigration. Then when anyone even suggests we cooperate to try to discourage illegal immigrants people are up in arms shouting 'racism'. Private landlords have been very much to blame in the past by their practices, not least offering substandard housing to illegal immigrants, cramming them in, and making a good profit. It's about time these type of landlords were brought to book.
As a private landlord myself I'm more than happy for my agents to check documents etc and they are very good at spotting forgeries. You've no idea how many try to foist forged letters of recommendation, student IDs, etc on us Janeainsworth

Ana - people would have to prove that was what they were doing

Nanban - I agree something needs to be done re ( illegal ) immigration - but really we need to invest more in border control and immigration - the current system is ridiculous - near me they drop them on the A35 - the police pick them up - ring border control, and get told to give them the fare to croydon! as if thats going to happen , there ar eno checks on ferries coming into Poole on a sunday - its just madenss

Nanban - you're lucky with your timing!

Thanks Nonu - nice to be liked

Nanban --- like !

Anyways I am tootling as there is a prog. on BBc 2 at 9 i want to watch .

Whenever immigration is raised, someone always raises the racism issue. It's got absolutely nothing to do with colour/country/culture - it's got everything to do with our country and you have not followed the rules so go away because we have plenty of people here already.

Which would leave them wide open to being sued for racial discrimination. It wouldn't be allowed to happen, susieb755.

Sel - because landlords will not want to be bothered with all the checking, so will only rent to white british just in case....

Such signs would be illegal anyway.

susieb755 I don't follow. This is about illegal immigrants, not racial discrimination. How can you equate the two?

Why should that happen susieb755? As I said earlier employers have a legal responsibility to ensure anyone is working legally. Why should it be any different for landlords? I am sure Most employers are decent and above board, likewise most landlords. So if we all work together surely it has only got to be a good thing .

I fear it will lead to racist housing policies, and we willbe back to 60's with signs saying 'no blacks, no immigrants'

It will be interesting to see how much Sainsbury's will be fined for employing one of the most wanted men in USA.
Strange but true. He is a Manager in their Chatham store. It came out because some of the staff googled him.

Exactly Riverwalk about two years ago we took on an Iranian (then student). As a small business we were expected to carry out all necessary checks to ensure that he had permission to work in this country (an I am not just talking about having an NI number). There are severe penalties for any employer (large or small) who employ anyone with out the correct paperwork and I can only see this as being a good thing. If this were extended out to landlords then this would be another positive step forward.

I would imagine that the people who provide forged documentation for illegal immigrants now, would be quite adept at forging identity cards too Aka

Perhaps identify cards are the answer?

Universities and colleges already have to produce proof that all their overseas students are properly documented and attending classes, as we know. I have seen signs up in hospitals saying that people should be prepared to produce their passports. Employers are supposed to check employee's documents before giving them a job. I'm sure benefits offices do the same. When we were expats we had to carry ID identifying us as resident aliens and in the past, I've had foreign friends who had to report to the police at intervals because they were working or studying here. BUT all this and the new proposals simply provide extra hassle for the law-abiding legal foreign resident, asylum-seeker, refugee, student and so on. Not sure how it will help in the case of people who are illegal immigrants.

The letting agent.

I do not know but I would think that if you had taken reasonable care in selecting your agent and could show you had good grounds for relying on his expertise, you would at least have some comeback against him if he failed to do the job properly. I used a large chain of estate agents who had a division that specialised in lettings and paid them to be my experts on the legal requirements I had to meet to let my property.

Flickety Who would be liable, if a tenant was found to be an illegal immigrant - the landlord or the letting agent?

I wonder how widely known it is that in the majority of cases when illegal immigrants turf up in court for shoplifting or anything else in the money-making department, the Home Office can't be faffed to send anyone along to take them into custody and they are - mostly - just sent off again with a fine.

When we were in the letting business that was exactly the same for us .

Having for a couple of years been an accidental landlord. I paid an agent to select my tenants and manage the flat for me. They are the professionals and just as they kept me up to date on any changes in the legal regulations governing my property I would expect them to have the expertise to check the relevant documentation.

Yes, it cost money but I got what I paid for and as with many regulations those who ignore them usually do so because they do not want to pay out the money necessary to fulfil the legal obligations. Yes, sometimes it is because they cannot afford it, but mainly it is because they are greedy and want to make more than a reasonable return on their capital.

Small landlords are no different from small businesses - the latter are expected to verify documentation.