The recent judgement by Sheriff Principal Scott in the case of Glasgow West Housing Association Ltd v Danuta Harasimowicz at Glasgow Sheriff Court highlighted that too many appeals are submitted without any legal basis to the application.
The case involved a tenant who sought to appeal a decree for eviction from a Scottish Secure Tenancy and was refused.
The tenant had rent arrears of £2973 at the time of the continued calling on 7 January 2015. The tenant left the tenancy for one year to return to Poland, did not pay any rent during that period and failed to use the tenancy as her principal home. Rent had not been paid since December 2013. The solicitor for the tenant lodged a note of appeal on 20 January 2015 and thereafter withdrew from acting.
The Sheriff at first instance observed that the tenant was in considerable arrears and any suggestions about repayment were “speculative and woolly” and that there was nothing mentioned about supposed health issues.
The Sheriff Principal commented that when lodging an appeal: “..cogent and compelling reasons for suggesting that the sheriff erred in the aforementioned exercise of his judgment are required. Too often, as it would appear in this case, appeals are lodged with grounds which are speculative and woolly. In effect, they serve to buy more time for an appellant whose overall circumstances suggest that the eviction is not just reasonable but inevitable and where there is no material to suggest that the sheriff in question plainly erred.”
Sheriff Principal Scott concluded that it was entirely reasonable for the Sheriff to grant decree for eviction and the appeal should be refused. He added that the tenant’s financial situation was mainly due to her own ill-judged decisions. The expenses of the appeal were awarded to the Housing Association.
This case highlights that the legal basis of an appeal should be carefully considered by a tenant’s solicitor prior to lodging an appeal. And that the practice of many appeals by tenants in appealing relates to trying to gain the sympathy of the court, or to use it as a delaying tactic with no real prospects of success.
Please contact a member of our Housing and Private Letting team if you would like information on tenancy issues.
