Spanish national Pedro Reis Tenajas and his company, London Corporate Relocation Ltd, have been fined over £33,000 after Merton Council prosecuted them over HMO rental rule breaches.

The Wimbledon Park property at the centre of the case  was unlicensed and unsafe, said the council.

Neither Tenejas or the company were present in Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court to answer charges that included failure to apply for the required license, safety breaches and failure to meet other landlord obligations, such as providing required information to tenants.

Notwithstanding, magistrates found the charges to be both proven and serious, and said that lives could have had been put at risk. They also said the company had been uncooperative and obstructive.

London Corporate Relocation was ordered to pay fines and costs amounting to £21,750 to be paid within 28 days, while Tenajas was fined £11,530, also to be paid within 28 days.

In evidence the court heard that Tenajas had previously been fined £22,000 by Tower Hamlets for issuing sham licenses.

London Corporate Relocation Ltd was incorporated in December 2014. It has registered offices in London N1. Its sole director is 39-year-old Tenajas

Merton Council cabinet member for housing, regeneration and the climate emergency, Martin Whelton, said the council was delighted to have secured the conviction of Tenajas and London Corporate Relocation ‘especially in light of their track record as dangerous, rogue landlords’.