A fixed-fee eviction service for landlords and letting agents which was originally established to bypass solicitors has been granted alternative business structure status.

Landlord Action, based in north-west London, has acted in 25,000 eviction cases since its formation in 1999 by a group of innovative landlords who believed solicitors’ fees were too expensive. Its marketing literature boasted: ‘We’re not like lawyers. Our fees are fixed. And we talk plain English.’

Landlord Action initially used a panel of external solicitor firms to review every case, issue at court and brief advocates. However, in 2012 the company decided to bring solicitors in-house and appointed a new legal director, solicitor Justin Selig, who is also a landlord.
 



‘Now Landlord Action has acquired the status of a law firm,’ the company said today.

‘It still only specialises in housing law and it still only represents landlords and agents – never tenants. Its new position is recognition of its expertise and will clearly differentiate it from those internet services that have tried to copy it.’

 

Landlord Action founder, Paul Shamplina (pictured) said: ‘We set out to protect landlords and agents. But we ended up creating a whole sector that doesn’t care enough. We’re part of the letting community and we’re dedicated to providing landlord and agents a high-quality specialist service dedicated to their specific needs. Whatever we can do to improve that, we will.’

In 2012 Shamplina was ranked 15th in a list of 25 of the most influential people in British property compiled by the Daily Telegraph.