Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004: Part 7 - Antisocial Behaviour Notices: Guidance for Local Authorities

Annex 1: SERVING ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR NOTICES

59. An ASBN is served on the landlord of a property. It should be noted that 'landlord' means the landlord in respect of the relevant lease or occupancy arrangement, and may not be the person who is entered in the local authority's register as the owner of the property.

60. If the local authority is aware of any agent working on the landlord's behalf, a copy of the Notice should also be sent to the agent. Where a property is joint owned and those joint owners are the immediate landlords of the tenancy in question, the Notice must be served on all joint owners. If the landlord listed in the lease is only one of the joint owners, the local authority may nonetheless wish to send a copy of the notice to all other joint owners as having a direct link to the tenancy, and the ability to take on management responsibility.

61. A landlord or agent may be an individual, a partner of a partnership, or a corporate 'person' such as a company, trust or other legal entity.

62. The key point to note is that a corporation is a 'legal person' that can only act or form an intention through its directors or employees. A corporation can commit offences. Where the landlord or agent is a corporate 'person', it should be served with the ASBN. In practice, there will normally be an individual who has responsibility for managing the tenancy on a day-to-day basis, whether that person is a director, an employee or an agent.

63. Similar considerations apply to trusts and charities, which again have the identity of a legal 'person'.

64. It may arise that it is not possible to identify the landlord of a troublesome property. In this case, the Notice should be posted in two or more newspapers (local if possible).

65. If the landlord's identity is known but it is not possible to establish his current address, the Notice may be served by addressing it to the landlord at the let property or to a previous address of the landlord.