Ryanair is not the world\u2019s most popular airline, but news that it has won a recent landmark ruling is very good news for landlords. The airline went to court to appeal against fees levied against it by the Home Office for allowing illegal immigrants into the UK via its flights. The judge\u2019s ruling found in Ryanair\u2019s favour on the basis that the airline\u2019s staff could not be expected to spot cleverly forged passports when even experienced immigration staff had a problem.<\/p>\n
In the ruling, the judge said that the regime whereby airline staff have to check passports \u201coffends the basic concepts of justice and indeed rule of law\u201d. Crucially, this could help landlords in the \u2018Right to Rent\u2019 debacle.<\/p>\n
Right to Rent<\/strong> Cast Iron Defence<\/strong> \u201cIn light of this case and to save the Government money from losing similar actions brought by landlords, we call on the Government to provide better information to landlords about document forgeries and offer more clarity as to the legal responsibility of landlords duped by forged identify documents<\/a>,\u201d says the RLA.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ryanair is not the world\u2019s most popular airline, but news that it has won a recent landmark ruling is very good news for landlords. The airline went to court to appeal against fees levied against it by the Home Office … Continue reading
\nGiven that landlords are now being forced under threat of fines to check tenants\u2019 identity documents, the same principle could apply. If airline staff cannot spot forgeries, why are landlords expected to do so?<\/p>\n
\nThis raises the prospect that if a landlord is caught out by a cleverly forged passport of a tenant<\/a>, who subsequently turns out to be an illegal immigrant, he will have a great defence against any action the Home Office chooses to take against him.<\/p>\n