My tenants were the subject of a drugs raid!

[Grafton]

Hi all, a week ago the police raided a property of mine in a suspected "drugs bust"....

The property in question consists of a social club downstairs, with a completely separate flat above (separate entrance, different tenants). The police smashed both the flat door and the club door to gain access. They had a warrant, but no suspicious substances were found.
My question is, can i claim recompense for the damage the police caused to the flat door? The door to the club is the responsibility of the tenant downstairs, so i would expect him to chase the police on his own behalf.

Many thanks!

[AndrewDod]

Don't think the police are going to be held responsible. Occasionally when they are totally out of order they do make some payments.

Ultimately your tenant's pay for this sort of stuff via higher rents.

[Jon66]

The entitlement to compensation depends upon whether there were reasonable grounds for suspicion that drugs were held on the premises and consequently whether it was reasonable to search the premises.

For example, if the premises below were dealing in drugs, had the police carried out reasonable enquiries as to whether there is any link between the club and the flat above? So if the it's the manager of the clubs flat, then its reasonable. If not then it may be a breach of Article 8.

If there is no link, maybe make a formal complaint using the police's complaint procedure, or take some legal advice, depending upon whether the cost of the damage makes it worthwhile.

If you think your tenants are dealing, then you could attempt to deduct from the deposit at the end of the tenancy, but you will need to have some form of evidence.

This is one of those occasions where Landlord insurance might be useful.

[Hudson01]

The entitlement to compensation depends upon whether there were reasonable grounds for suspicion that drugs were held on the premises and consequently whether it was reasonable to search the premises.

This would of been determined by the magistrate who granted the warrant....... the Police would have presented what they had in terms of '' evidence'' (which the public will never get to see) and the Magistrate then decides if it is enough to issue the warrant. They clearly decided it was enough and issued the warrant, as long as the address on the warrant matched the door(s) they kicked in with the big red key then no compo will be paid.

I would be looking at your tenant very carefully as i know that to get a warrant takes more than a simple rumor or a few calls to '' crime-stoppers'' there will be something going on.

[flyingfreehold]

I had Mr Plod smash in the door of a flat in the block, similarly there were no arrests. Somewhat to our surprise the tenant agreed to pay an extra £5/week in rent toward cost of a new composite fireproof door and frame which I am sorry to say came to many hundreds of pounds

[Jon66]

This would of been determined by the magistrate who granted the warrant....... the Police would have presented what they had in terms of '' evidence'' (which the public will never get to see) and the Magistrate then decides if it is enough to issue the warrant. They clearly decided it was enough and issued the warrant, as long as the address on the warrant matched the door(s) they kicked in with the big red key then no compo will be paid.

I'm not sure this is right. The magistrate relies totally on the information contained in the application by the police. My point is that there needs to be evidence of some sort that the residents of the flat are linked to the club or vice versa, and that there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity on the premises and flat. It isn't enough that they are in proximity to each other, or that they are owned by the same landlord.

I agree that op needs to take a close look at his tenants. Hence my suggestion of finding some sort of evidence. I think I would be increasing the inspections and do a bit of asking around.

[Hudson01]

I totally agree that if they did enter a premises with a different address to what was on the warrant then a case can be brought, not knowing the layout of the two premises it is difficult to say, but if they clearly have two different door numbers/post boxes etc then a mistake would be difficult to argue, agree that the magistrate can only rely upon what the Police say but that information is confidential and the public would not have access to it (as it should be), what ever addresses they entered have to be on the warrant.

[jpkeates]

The tenant is responsible for the cost, regardless of whether they were doing anything illegal or not.
It's the same as if the police smashed in the door of someone who owned their own property - it's essentially an event outside of their control that they end up paying to be repaired.
So they might try and recover the cost from the police or not (which might depend on whether they feel in any way responsible for causing the raid in the first place).

If the tenancy ended and the tenant moved out with the door damaged, you'd claim it from the deposit, regardless of the cause.

The only grey area is that the landlord may have insurance that covers the repair and the tenant almost certainly doesn't.

[Grafton]

Thank you for all replies. I can honestly say , hand on heart that the tenants in the flat are not dealing drugs......as they've just come from a Syrian refugee camp!
I believe the police thought the flat above was occupied by the tenant of the club, otherwise they would have raided his own home, as well as the club.
Therefore i'm assuming the intel was wrong, and should be liable.
I intend to complain via the appropriate channels, although i'm sure it may be a very long wait before i receive compensation.

[Jon66]

You can get legal help on a no win no fee basis. Quite a few solicitors who regularly deal with this type of issue are around and they are pretty good at gauging likelihood of success as obviously they don't get paid if they don't succeed, and who wants to work for nothing.

[Grafton]

many thanks, will give it a go.

[dazwalsh]

Good luck, police were not interested in replacing the door of one of my properties, despite them admitting they cocked up and were in the wrong street.