As you know, I have been in the eviction business for a long time, and one thing I have learnt is that despite obvious similarities, no two cases are ever quite the same. You can have two landlords with what appears to be exactly the same problem, but once you start asking questions, the circumstances that have brought them to that point are often very different.

That is why, when somebody contacts Landlord Action, the first thing we want to do is establish what has actually happened and how they have reached the point of needing to evict.  This determines everything about how we can or cannot help the landlord going forward.

For years, we would get enquiries saying something along the lines of, "I've got a tenant who isn't paying the rent. Can somebody give me a call?" Or simply, "I need help with an eviction." Perfect. We know what they need, we pick up the phone and have a conversation.

However, my team is telling me we are increasingly receiving these incredibly long, detailed enquiries which appear to have been written by AI. What used to be a couple of lines has turned into several paragraphs of legal-sounding language, explanations and questions, and the funny thing is, when we call some of these landlords back, they often don't actually understand half of what they have sent us.

Only this week, Barclays announced plans to cut around 5,000 jobs as it looks to make greater use of AI and technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs. That gives you some idea of just how quickly things are changing. Yet, while some businesses are using AI to save time and money, we are seeing examples of it doing quite the opposite. What should be a simple request for a callback is becoming a lengthy legal-sounding enquiry that takes longer to get to the bottom of.

We all know AI is everywhere, and I am certainly not against it. There are plenty of ways it can make our lives easier, but I do sometimes wonder whether it is being used simply because it is there, even when there really isn’t a need. If you want somebody to call you about an eviction, just ask them to call you. You don't need ChatGPT to turn it into a legal submission.

The danger of sounding like you know the law

What concerns me more is the possibility that people start confusing something that sounds legally convincing with something that is actually legally correct.

Possession law is not straightforward, and actually it can be even more confusing since the Renters’ Rights Act came into force. The advice we give a landlord depends on the tenancy, the reason they are seeking possession, the paperwork, the evidence and what has happened up to that point. So, as a landlord, you cannot just type a few details into AI and assume the answer it gives you is the right one.

If somebody sends us a detailed explanation of their legal position but then can't explain it when we speak to them, that tells me we need to get back to basics.

What is the problem? What has the tenant done, or not done? What outcome is the landlord trying to achieve? What documents are available? Those are the questions that matter.

I can understand why landlords turn to AI, particularly when they are stressed, losing rent or dealing with a difficult situation. They want answers, and they want them quickly but that really is where speaking to somebody who understands the possession process makes a difference.

What happens when AI reaches the courtroom?

The other thing I have been thinking about is what influence AI is going to have on possession proceedings, particularly as more cases now have to go through the courts.

At the moment, it is difficult to know whether tenants are using AI to prepare their defences because, generally, they have to be submitted in a particular format, often using a defence form, so there is less opportunity to simply produce pages and pages of AI-generated arguments.

However, if landlords are already using AI to write a basic enquiry asking for a callback, surely tenants will be using it to help challenge possession claims. On the one hand, I can completely understand why somebody facing the prospect of losing their home would use a tool that helps them understand their rights and whether there's anything they can do.

What worries me, however, is what happens when somebody starts relying on AI to construct a legal defence they do not fully understand, or worse still, that is largely untrue, particularly if it produces arguments that sound convincing but do not actually apply to their circumstances.

Will we start seeing more irrelevant arguments being raised? Will landlords and their representatives have to spend additional time responding to points that have little bearing on the case and of course, what will that mean for the courts?

I suspect this could become another challenge for an already stretched possession system. In fact, I would not be surprised if AI is already influencing some cases without it being particularly obvious.

The last thing we need is cases becoming more complicated or taking longer because everyone is having to work through arguments that have been generated by a computer rather than properly understood by the person putting them forward.

Of course, a valid defence is a valid defence, whether somebody has used AI to help prepare it or not. Tenants should of course challenge a possession claim where they have legitimate grounds to do so, but I guess that is the key point… “having legitimate grounds”, rather than relying on arguments that may have been made up to delay or waste time.

AI is only going to become a bigger part of how landlords and tenants seek advice and deal with disputes, and while it can be incredibly useful, it needs to be used with some common sense. My advice to landlords is to use it to help you understand your options, but do not mistake it for proper legal advice.

If we are already seeing AI complicate something as straightforward as an initial enquiry, I do wonder what impact it could have when these arguments start finding their way into court.

Ultimately, whether it is a landlord seeking advice or a tenant defending a possession claim, the facts and evidence are what matter, not how cleverly an argument has been written.

And if all you need is a callback about an eviction, please, just ask us to call you!