2:02pm Tuesday 2nd March 2010
By Alexandra Womack
A HOUSING association tenant from Yate has been handed a £1,300 fine after repeatedly ignoring requests to service his gas appliances.
The man, from Celestine Road, did not respond to Merlin Housing Society for two months forcing the organisation to take the matter to court.
Head of property services Mark Haines said: "As well as sending letters, our surveyor visited the property several times, including in the evening and at the weekend, to try to speak to the resident.
"We put stickers on his door asking him to get in touch but we heard nothing.
"We have a legal obligation to service all gas appliances in our residents’ homes every year. But after two months trying to contact the resident we were left with no option but to go to court to try and gain entry to the property."
He added: "Although the resident got in touch with us before the court date we had incurred legal expenses in preparing for court and so we asked for these costs to be passed onto the tenant, which the court agreed."
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