A student landlord’s dreams of property crumbled in to a financial nightmare when his tenants found out their homes were not properly licensed.
They refused to pay their rent and his cash flow dried up, piling up debts of £3 million for his property business.
Now, Daniel Eaton, 36, is selling his £2 million letting property portfolio to repay mortgages and £5,900 in fines after admitting 10 offences of breaching HMO rules and other housing laws at Cupar Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Charles Macnair warned Eaton that his fines would have been higher if his financial circumstances were not so dire.
The court heard that Eaton, who trained as an architect and was described as a skilled tradesman, let his properties to students in the Scottish university town of St Andrews, but failed to apply to the council for HMO licences.
When his tenants found out the lets were unlawful, they withheld rent until he could produce valid licences.
Then, Eaton’s property business fell apart as he needed the rents to pay bills, and without cash flow, he had no money.
Defending, Douglas Williams said: "He knows why the legislation is in place and he cannot deny he has been wilful in as much as he did not secure the appropriate licences.
"One can at least say that the position here is that there were no incidents that led to tenants being endangered.
He also explained that property management was not one of Eaton’s skills and his efforts at running a property business were ‘shambolic’.
Fining Eaton, Sheriff Macnair said: "Multiple occupation laws were brought in to make sure that a tenant has a safe property to live in.
"You would appear to be insolvent but that does not mean I should not impose fines of an appropriate amount. These fines must take priority over other debts."
