Fake agents scamming landlords and tenants

Reply to the comment left by Luke P at 23/11/2018 - 12:29I am and have an HMOs and both happened at the same time after 2months empty, my plan is to say, as was the case, that I was a live in landlord until November with my kit in one room so I need a new tenancy from them with a clause ending all previous agreements. Sadly the b(*&(*&^%d they put in first I think may be the worst and I didn't electronically sign his contract - he also smokes weed and in the garden. But they gave him a key to the house and thus contracts start I believe. Another in the other house does the same garden smoking.
Also various versions of the contract ,which me being old school printed out thankfully, had his rent go from 690 to 590 between versions.
Lack of references.
I was up to my eyeballs in stress as the previous 6 boys had left early and systematically broken undone everything that a landlord is responsible for electrics, plumbing, sinks, toilet cisterns and after most of the new lot moved in at 2am the previous tenants threw two bricks from my front yard at the house. They had also called in the council who had inspected so further cash went out and they stopped paying the last 2 months rent.
Thankfully the bricks thrown only hit a wall leaving a 2cm bit of the brick on the wall and a engineering brick in 4 pieces.

My tenancys have my name and theirs. With me liable for the TDS scheme but BUT in the agreement with the agent it states he is liable for the TDS scheme but I think that he didn't counter sign that.

This is a replica of the Oliver-Knights scam that has been well documented and is thus easily referenced via a google search. I know the owners closed down and re-opened under another name - apparently this is quite permissible in the UK. Not that Oliver-Knights is a rare occurrence. Rogue agents/agencies have flourished and will continue to flourish in the UK until it becomes a regulated industry that enforces accountability.
You know ... something along the likes of say the draconian legislation that the PRS "labours" under?
Contact Lee Daniels of Helpland and see if he can assist you. He was invaluable in evicting the tenant Oliver-Knights placed in my property with a fraudulent AST.

One certainly had a very new smart car. Similar to Foxtons. . . Sigh been a very very bad 4 months

Reply to the comment left by Winsome P at 26/11/2018 - 02:20My fraudulent tenant (a serial rogue and benefits cheat I subsequently learnt) was a 3 year nightmare and she refused to pay rent the last 8 months it took to evict her. Fortunately for me, her bad history assisted me in the eviction as her deposit had also been embezzled by Oliver-Knights and this could have incurred severe penalties. She did not want her past history exposed in court so waited for the Bailiff without making my life more miserable by raising the unprotected deposit as a defence. Then again she had thieved over GBP16 000 from me in unpaid rental so I assume she considered her deposit immaterial. She left the unit filthy and not one item of furniture was salvageable. I'm telling you this because your present situation may worsen. My experience left me so traumatised I have refused to rent my property again and it has remained empty since April this year. My losses are enormous but it is impossible to sell in the present market with all the Brexit uncertainty. To say that I am a disillusioned investor would be a gross understatement.
You have all my sympathy but seek professional landlord help now before this escalates to a more complicated level.

Reply to the comment left by DALE ROBERTS at 26/11/2018 - 10:29Thanks for sharing that Dale. I do understand how you feel right now! Yes you are right that my situation could escalate and am exploring professional help.
Incidentally the agent was registered with PRS. I have submitted a complaint to them about the agent.
I notice on the PRS website that there is a compensation of up to £25,000. I am not sure if the compensation is for situations like yours and mine. Essentially I am in this situation primarily because of the agent! Would this entitle us for the PRS compensation?
Maybe somebody can shed light on this.

Oliver-Knights originally had all the correct insurances and was a member of all the usual regulatory authorities. However, unbeknown to me and whilst they were raiding their own bank accounts to siphon monies for their personal benefit, these premiums stopped. When I approached the regulatory bodies, after discovering the level of fraud, they all neatly sidestepped responsibility citing the non payment of premiums. And Action Fraud were a complete waste of time even though they received numerous complaints about Oliver-Knights and information on who they now trade as.
I do have a CCJ against the tenant. And one day I intend enforcing it. But I am desperate to initiate my own "Brexit" from the UK property market. I know of no other industry where this level of legal thieving is permissible by both tenants and agents. It's rotten -and worse - endorsed and encouraged by the government and it's affiliated departments.

Reply to the comment left by DALE ROBERTS at 26/11/2018 - 12:01
I fully agree with your sentiments and concluding comments. This industry needs to be regulated!!!

Did you have any dealings with Property Redress Scheme (PRS) ?

I did not Sandy. But frankly it is very difficult to find any authority sympathetic to landlords in the UK or amenable to actually fulfilling their respective responsibilities notwithstanding their self promoted propaganda. As a South African investor, who has by force and not choice, had to rely on institutionalised entities in the UK to manage and insure my property portfolio my tale is a sad narrative of non service or dismal service. In your country I call myself a warlord - not a landlord. Simply because I have had to go to war against ingrained apathy and antipathy (is there a group more vilified than us) compounded by the fact that in a digitised world the UK appears to be a catatonic dinosaur. Almost nothing can be done online nor can accounts be issued via email. I've managed my large property portfolio in South Africa with all those superb facilities for many years now. And no agent nor agency can operate in South Africa without being accredited by The Estate Agencies Board who enforce strict criteria for professional insurance and a bank account protected within a Trust.
Property118 and Landlord/Tenant Referencing I found via google. And they have been the single most helpful organisations in the UK with regards to trenchant advice.
I'd like to wish you good luck but that is not a strategy. Determination and tenacity is 🙂

Thought you would like an update as I have discovered that the contract the agents are using is a 'live in landlord' 'lodgers' tenancy which because both houses had reverted to me and were empty and I had a tone of work to do repairing damages I stayed in as well as paying the bills etc. So thats the good news and then when my final room has been let out as 'a live in landlord' I give notice and demand that they sign a AST or face eviction. Then I protect that deposit on one contract. If I dont do one contract the issue is as I have experienced before one leaves and the other 5 put off the potential sixth as having a spare room for friends etc is financially of benefit to themselves.
NLA and RLA both have these types of contracts and to my inexperienced eye I didn't get the implied power to summarily dismiss the tenant. Also as a live in landlord you dont need to register the deposit . . . . .