Posts with tag: letting agent

Letting agency prosecuted for ‘ghost-letting’

Published On: June 13, 2016 at 1:59 pm

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A letting agency has been prosecuted following so-called ‘ghost listing’ on Zoopla flats that were actually not able to be let.

Down2Town Ltd of Islington and director Ilshad Ali Sumum, were fined £6,600 after being found guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court.

Trading standards

Islington council’s trading standards team was notified last year, after a resident saw that their home was listed for rent on the Zoopla website. This was despite the property not actually been available to be let.

Further investigations revealed that the letting agent had an unwritten agreement with a landlord to let a separate property in the same block, near to Holloway Road.

However, the letting agent proceeded to wrong list other flats in the block as being available to let-including the property that the concerned resident was living in.

As a result of the fraudulent listings, the block of flats was kept near the top of the search results on the Zoopla website.

Letting agency prosecuted for 'ghost-letting'

Letting agency prosecuted for ‘ghost-letting’

Guilty

At Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, Mr Sumum pleaded guilty to a brace of offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Both Sumum and Down2Town Ltd were each fined £2,000, ordered to pay costs of £1,250 and a victim surcharge of £100.

A council spokesman noted, ‘flats were falsely being advertised for sale, a practice sometimes also known as ghost-listing. This not only misled those looking for homes to rent, but also caused understandable distress among the residents who discovered their homes were being marketed without their knowledge or consent.’[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/6/agency-fined-by-council-for-ghost-listing-flats-to-let-on-zoopla

 

 

‘Appalling’ letting agent head banned

Published On: May 5, 2016 at 10:28 am

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A letting agent who kept tenants’ deposits with value of nearly £7,000 has been branded as, ‘appalling’ by the local council in which the action took place.

Glasgow council barred Shaban Rehman from renting out homes, describing him as unfit to be a landlord or agent. Rehman was also removed from the authority’s private landlord register.

As a result, he can no longer let his eight flats, nor the other 20 managed by his letting agency, Better Homes Glasgow. The council also ruled that anyone attempting to break this ruling would be charged with a criminal offence and fined up to £50,000.

Failures

Glasgow Council said that its private registration unit found that Rehman had failed to register two deposits with an approved rental scheme. These deposits had a total rental value of £6,950.

He is also reported to have told a family that rented one of his properties in the city, but relocated to London for a short while, that there had been a flood in their absence. As such, Rehman duped them into paying £700 per month extra for another flat, but then subsequently placed the ‘flooded’ flat back onto the market. Rehman also did not return the family’s deposit.

'Appalling' letting agent head banned

‘Appalling’ letting agent head banned

What’s more, Mr Rehman was alleged to have shown another tenant fraudulent documentation, which falsely claimed their deposit had been legally deposited into an approved scheme.

A council spokesman said, ‘this kind of appalling behaviour by a registered landlord can never be tolerated. Shaban Rehman has taken money from blameless tenants in bad faith and caused his victims untold distress and inconvenience.’[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/5/ban-for-appalling-letting-agency-chief-who-kept-tenants-deposits

 

 

Huge fines for landlords after illegal letting

Published On: March 29, 2016 at 12:01 pm

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A pair of buy-to-let investors who flaunted planning regulations have been told to pay a total of £116,000.

Efstratios Filis-Gelagotis and Andreas Charalambous converted a property into seven studio flats in the London borough of Islington. This conversion was carried out without the required planning permission.

Warning

In December 2013, Islington Council issued a planning enforcement notice, permitting the unauthorised use of the single-family property for studio flats to cease inside six months.

Despite this, the flats continued to be let without authority, even after several further warning letters were issued by the council. As such, a decision was taken to prosecute the two men.

In October last year, both Filis-Gelagotis and Charalambous pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the enforcement notices.

Huge fines for landlords after illegal letting

Huge fines for landlords after illegal letting

Fines

Blackfriars Crown Court has instructed both men to pay a fine of £5,000 each, alongside legal costs of £4,000. In addition, they were each ordered to pay another £49,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. This money represents the value made from renting the property between July 2014 and October 2015.

Since the trial, the property has now been legally converted into a six-bedroom house in multiple occupancy (HMO.) Planning permission was granted in October of last year.

 

Agent jailed after foiled ‘back to back sale’ attempt

Published On: March 7, 2016 at 10:21 am

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A rogue letting agent has been jailed following ‘thoroughly dishonest’ behaviour.

Stephen John Jones was sentenced to 10 months behind bars, following an attempted fraudulent transaction.

Mr Jones tried to con an 89 year-old woman, by attempting to by her flat in his wife’s name for £10,000 less than the price he intended to sell it for. As such, Mr Jones was found guilty of an attempted ‘back to back sale.’

Offers

Jones actually received a genuine offer of £27,000 for the flat but did not inform the pensioner, who had expressed her desire to use any funds to pay for her nursing home fees.

The transaction was foiled after the police uncovered the fraud after a tip-off.

Caernarfon Crown Court was told that the 89 year old owner of the flat in Colwyn Bay resided in a nursing home. As a result, her flat was advertised in Mr Jones’s agency to be sold for £17,000 at the end of the year 2014.

However, it became apparent that Mr Jones intended to sell the property to his wife. After this, Jones wanted to arrange a back to back sale, which would see the property sold for £27,000, making him a profit of £10,000.

Agent jailed after foiled 'back to back sale' attempt

Agent jailed after foiled ‘back to back sale’ attempt

Charges

In court, Owen Edwards, serving as defender for Mr Jones, said that the accused was a hard-working family man, who built up his business renovating properties. Mr Edwards said, ‘as a result of that work he became an estate agent because there were advantages in having a one stop shop.’[1]

‘He’s entirely aware he’s the author of his own misfortune. It’s a case where others will suffer as a result,’ Edwards added.[1]

Judge Harris-Jenkins told Jones that he had acted in, ‘a thoroughly dishonest manner,’[1] which could have had severe detrimental effects on a vulnerable elderly woman.

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/business/thoroughly-dishonest-agent-jailed-for-10-months.html

 

Cambridge letting agent prosecuted for unlawful eviction

Published On: February 16, 2016 at 10:13 am

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A letting agent who unlawfully evicted one of his tenants from a property has been ordered to pay a substantial fine by Cambridge Magistrates Court.

Alan Croft, director of BestLet Property Management and Lettings, pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing the resident of the premises under Section 1(2) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

Mr Croft was told to pay a total of £4,315 as a result of his negligence.

Case for concern

The case revolved around a tenant who rented a room in shared accommodation which was managed by BestLet. The tenant contacted the council for assistance after the agent from BestLet entered his rooms without giving him the requisite 24 hrs notice.

Council officers contacted BestLet and told the agency of the legal procedure that must be followed to access rooms. The correct process of evicting a tenant was also provided.

Despite this, Croft nor his agency served the necessary legal notice to gain possession, nor was an application given to the court for an eviction order. What actually happened was that Croft gave instructions to an employee to change the locks on the property. In addition, Croft instructed the employee to put the tenant’s possessions into bin bags in the front garden!

The court also heard that BestLet had not protected the tenants’ deposit, another breach of law. This deposit had also not been returned.

Cambridge letting agent prosecuted for unlawful eviction

Cambridge letting agent prosecuted for unlawful eviction

Prosecution

Mr Croft and BestLet were prosecuted and fined a total of £1,370, told to pay council’s costs of £2,408 and a victim surcharge of £137. Additionally, the tenant was given £400 in compensation for their hardship and damage to their possessions.

Kevin Price, executive councillor for housing at Cambridge City Council, noted, ‘council officers work with tenants, landlords and agents to ensure that the correct legal processes are followed and if there is a dispute we help all parties move forward.’[1]

‘Unfortunately, despite being advised by council officers as to the correct procedures, BestLet instead chose to evict the tenant by unlawfully changing the locks and removing the tenants’ property and leaving it in the garden,’ he continued. [1]

Concluding, Mr Price said, ‘we take matters such as this very seriously and aim to tackle poor standards in the private rented sector and focus our enforcement action on the minority of unscrupulous landlords and agents who do not comply with the law.’[1]

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/2/local-letting-agent-guilty-of-unlawful-eviction

 

2/3 of tenants unaware of Rent Smart Wales

Published On: November 24, 2015 at 11:55 am

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A concerning survey of tenants in Wales suggests that a remarkably high number do not know about the new Rent Smart Wales initiative to register and license all landlords and letting agents within the country.

Data from a report from the National Landlords Association reveals that two-thirds of tenants claim they are unaware of the scheme, which came into force yesterday.

Low

The Rent Smart Wales scheme, mandatory for landlords and agents, requires training, registration and licensing. Both agents and landlords have 12 months in which to comply with the new regulations.

Despite tenants stating that the scheme would make them more confident about the private rental sector and improve the quality of stock, 65% said they were unaware of the initiative.

Without proper resources to enforce the legislation, the NLA warns that the scheme will become ineffective, especially after the first-year introductory period.

2/3 of tenants unaware of Rent Smart Wales

2/3 of tenants unaware of Rent Smart Wales

Working together

‘As the licensing authority, Cardiff city council must start working with other local authorities from the outset in order to fine and prosecute those who fail to comply within the year’s grace period,’ said NLA chief executive Richard Lambert. ‘Without proper enforcement the scheme will do nothing to stop criminals in the sector but as yet we’ve seen no detail about how Cardiff plans to do this.’[1]

‘Unless they’re quick off the mark, come next November, there’s a real danger that Rent Smart Wales will amount to little more than just a list of names and it will quickly lose the confidence of tenants who expect it to make a difference,’ he added.[1]

[1] https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/11/who-actually-know-about-rent-smart-wales-not-many-it-seems—