A rogue landlord who threatened to evict his tenant after she complained about dodgy utilities bills has been handed a huge court fine, albeit at great cost to the local council.

53-year-old Bhavander Sanghera, the sole director of Wolverhampton-based letting agency EBS Property rented out a property to a new tenant but failed to tell her that her utility supply was connected to a neighbouring home. It meant that she was paying for her neighbour’s gas and electric bills, as well as her own, Birmingham Live reports.

The tenant made the discovery when she overheard a conversation between her neighbour and a meter man, but when she approached Sanghera about the matter, she was left feeling “gaslighted”, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. Sanghera, 53, of Jesson Road, Walsall, then handed the woman two eviction notices “in retaliation” for her raising concerns with Wolverhampton Council.

Rent returned

The tenant paid £40,100 in rent over 66 months for the property in Penn Road (main image). However, EBS Property was dissolved in March and Sanghera’s solicitor said the case had taken a heavy toll on him. Sanghera, whose “income is benefits”, owns two properties with his estranged wife and another two with his father.

Sanghera’s actions would have caused a “high level of distress” to the tenant, judge Neil Chawla said. The council’s court costs have amounted to £219,319; he added: “I despair at the number of potholes that potentially could have been filled with that or the number of care homes or services that could have been provided or the schools that would have bitten off their right arm to get any amount of funding.”

EBS Property admitted two counts of engaging in unfair practice between 1st November and 13th December 2016, and two counts of engaging in aggressive commercial practice in April and July 2017. It was fined £40,000, while Sanghera was ordered to pay £10,000 costs.

Companies House records also reveal that Sanghera was disqualified from being the director of a company until 2030 following his 'conviction of indictable offence' at Wolverhampton Crown Court in 2022, which included fraud and unfair trading for which he was jailed.