Portsmouth Election Hustings

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On 8th May 2017, just one month before the ‘snap’ General Election called by Prime Minister Teresa May, PDPLA supported by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) will host an election hustings in Portsmouth. With 4,000+ landlords in Portsmouth providing nearly 25% of the accommodation in the city, which is also the most densely populated city […]

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Mayor’s Landlord Database will do little to find the criminals

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Plans for a new database to name and shame criminal landlords in London will do little to root out the crooks. We have concerns over the Mayor of London’s new plans for a database of landlords. In 2015/16 just 411 landlords were prosecuted by councils in the Capital of which 70% were in one Borough, Newham, which […]

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Government hopes to make Universal Credit payments easier for Landlords

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With talks in the media of DWP claiming that they plan to make the process for direct payments to Landlord’s easier. On 11th April 2017 DWP released a new UC47 Alternative Payment Arrangement application forms; enabling landlords to apply for direct payments. On both the secure and non-secure forms landlords can also apply for repayment… Read more

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Is there Stamp duty to consider if I use a Declaration of Trust?

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I have a buy to let property which is solely in my name and the mortgage outstanding amount is £125,200. I wanted to do a declaration of trust between myself and my wife and I wanted to know if any Stamp duty is payable? Many thanks Kais

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Fraudsters are targeting landlords and homeowners: are you ready to protect your property?

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Your property is probably your most valuable asset, therefore it is a very attractive target for ownership crime. The reported value of rental frauds in 2016 matched a total amount of nearly £2.5 million. This is a growing trend which shows no signs of abating, so how would you protect yourselves and your tenants? What should set the alarm ringing?  Here we look at some of the most common property frauds and tips to safeguard your business.

You are more vulnerable to property fraud if your property is:

• Rented out

• Empty – perhaps the owner may be living abroad or in a care home

• Mortgage-free, so no bank or building society has an interest

• Not registered with the Land Registry

Identity fraud

According to experts at the Land Registry, buy-to-let landlords, owners of mortgage free properties and those living abroad are particularly at risk of a scam involving fraudsters stealing their identity to sell or mortgage the property without them knowing. They then disappear, frequently changing their names leaving the true homeowner to deal with the consequences. To tackle this problem, the Government’s Land Registry department has set up a Property Alert scheme to prevent such frauds. Homeowners and landlords can register their details and get an email alert when there is activity on the property, such as a mortgage being taken out against it or a change of ownership details. The recipients can then decide how to react in case the activity looks suspicious. If you feel your property might be at risk you can also have a restriction placed on your property. A restriction is intended to prevent fraudulent activity such as the transfer of a mortgage, unless a solicitor confirms the application was made by the rightful owner.

Fake tenants

In one scam someone posing as a tenant will answer an ad for an online property and ask to pay by Western Union or a similar service. They then “accidentally” pay too much, apologise and ask for the money to be returned. The original payment will bounce and the fake tenant will receive the “repayment”.

Fake payment invoice

In recent months the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has received a high number of reports about emails containing a piece of malware claiming to be an invoice or containing details of transactions. According to the Bureau the specific wording of the email is new and convincing, contains details of a fake order which appear to have been sent by a legitimate company. The payment method is described as a credit card payment, with details of a fake transaction number. The email will then state that the recipient can find more information on the purchase in the attached file, however opening the attachment will infect your computer with malware. The telephone numbers provided at the bottom of the email are not genuine and are often connected to people that are unaware that their email is being used.

Are you prepared to act to protect your property? We have a few tips to get you covered:

Sign up to the Land Registry Property Alert service:

If you think you might be at risk of property fraud, the first thing you should do is to sign up to the Land Registry Property Alert service.

Alerts are sent to you via email when official searches and applications are received against the property you want monitored.

So, for example, if someone tries to make changes to a property you have registered – such as applying to change the registered owner of your property – a notification is sent to you via email.

It won’t automatically block any changes to the register but it will tell you what is happening so you can take appropriate action if necessary.

It’s a good service for landlords too, as you can monitor up to ten properties at one time free of charge.

Put a restriction on your title

You can safeguard your property further by applying to put a restriction against the title that no sale or remortgage of the property is to be registered without a certificate signed by a conveyancer.

Be wary of fake emails

Do not click on any attachments or links within an email unless you are sure that you know who has sent them. Always check the legitimacy of the email with the company that has supposedly sent it.

Some fraudsters have intercepted emails between solicitors and their clients and substituted fraudulent bank details. Some people have unwittingly sent money meant for their house purchase to criminals rather than their own solicitor. If you are notified of a change to a solicitor’s bank details then telephone the solicitor and speak to someone whose voice you recognise to check this.

Know your tenant:

The best advice we can give to landlords and letting agents to avoid becoming victims of property fraud is to know their tenants. Always attend viewings with clients, never release keys (particularly regarding void properties) and never allow anyone to stay after you leave. Fraudsters might take an imprint of the key and get it cloned later. Make sure you are there and you can verify the details of the people moving into your property, don’t just rely on the letting agent.

As a landlord expanding their existing property portfolio, the importance of keeping properties under detailed control is key to safeguard them from fraudulent agents and to ensure that they are managed effectively.

Arthur property management software enables property managers to do just that, by giving them control over all aspects of their portfolio from their computer, tablet or mobile phone. Our app brings landlords, tenants, contractors, agents and owners together, in a single user interface, which makes problem solving easy, from wherever you are in the world. The Arthur software is guaranteed to help you get your property portfolio in order, no matter what size…

Come and try our 30-day free trial today!

Arthur Online

… LandlordZONE.

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Client Money Protection Scheme to Become Mandatory for Letting Agents

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Rent and other monies paid to letting agents in England and Wales will soon have to be placed in an independent bank account to protect the funds from rogue agents or those who go bankrupt.

MPs are working on plans to legally mandate the measure for estate and letting agents into theHousing and Planning Act 2016, following a consultation period of almost a year and pressure from activists working to protect tenants’ rights.

The move will mean all estate and letting agents in England and Wales will be legally obliged to sign up to theClient Money Protection scheme – or face fines or even be shut down.

According to research by the housing charity Shelter, people hand over around £600 on average in deposits when renting a house or flat. If, subsequently, the agent ceases trading, that money may not be recoverable and the tenant will suffer the loss.

It is the same story for landlords who use the services of letting agents and pay them sums for future maintenance and other costs associated with rentals. If they are unknowingly dealing with an unscrupulous letting agent, they may not even get all the rent they are due from tenants.

Speaking in the House of Lords as the government agreed to amend the Housing and Planning Act to better protect landlords and tenants, Housing Minister Lord Bourne said it would mean improved services from letting agents.

“This will ensure that every agent is offering the same level of protection, giving tenants and landlords the financial protection that they deserve. The government will consult on how mandatory client money protection should be implemented and enforced.”

Up to now, it is believed many victims of unethical letting agents have not spoken out or even taken action. Indeed, according to the Local Government Association, just5% of overall scams are even reported, largely due to feelings of embarrassment or naivete.

In one case last year, a letting agent wasjailed by the Harrow Crown Court in London for four and a half years for fraud. The LGA says scams, including those concocted and carried out by letting agents, cost people around the UK some £9.4 billion every year, and that five million fell victim in 2015.

The head of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, Simon Blackburn, said these kinds of scams hurt people not only financially but also emotionally, and that dodgy agents and others “just want to rip people off”.

“Victims of fraud can lose thousands of pounds and feel anxious and scared due to being harassed by people every day,” he said. “It also creates significant costs for taxpayers as elderly victims in particular often require more care and support after they have been scammed.”

To become a member of the Client Money Protection programme, firms must have asegregated client bank account, be a member of an independent redress scheme for consumers, haveprofessional indemnity insurance and agree to the terms and conditions of the scheme.

Shelter policy chief Kate Webb, meanwhile, said letting agents would no longer have full control over clients’ money paid to them as it would be held in bank accounts separate to the agents’.

“It’s good news that the government has taken action … to make sure landlords and private renters are better protected if a letting agent goes bust, tries to steal from them or commits fraud,” she said.

“We’ve been campaigning hard at Shelter to improve the lives of private renters and this is a positive step forward alongside the proposed ban on letting agent fees.”

Estate agents involved in the lettings business will soon be legally obliged to display an official sign in their on-site windows or websites informing people they are members of the Client Money Protection scheme. So those looking forletting agents in Hammersmith, for instance, or anywhere else in England and Wales, will be assured that their deposits and other monies will be safe.

… LandlordZONE.

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Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on PRS lessons from Ireland – A landlord’s perspective

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I offer here a brief critique of the report which has just been published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. To download the full report please CLICK HERE Those of you who are aware of the debates surrounding Section 24 and who have kept abreast of our research findings on Property118 will know that we are… Read more

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Quarterly Digital Tax returns dropped from Finance Bill

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The requirement to complete quarterly digital tax returns to HMRC that included Landlords has been one of the 72 clauses to be dropped from the Finance Bill out 135 clauses in total. The Government has slashed the size of the Bill in an effort to rush the legislation through before the end of this Parliament…. Read more

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Irish Landlord fined for Discrimination

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Irish Republic warns Landlords on discrimination Following letting agent fine of €3,000, after discriminating against single mother tenant, the Republic of Ireland government has warned its private landlords and agents against discriminating when selecting new tenants. The fine was issued when the Irish Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordered an estate agent to pay the equivalent […]

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Universal Credit Alternative Payment Claims

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Rent Arrears: The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has put out some useful information to help those landlords who deal with Housing Benefit tenants on the new Universal Credit payments system. The Department for Work and Pensions has (On 11 April 2017) introduced improvements in the way it handles the Alternative Payment Arrangement (UC47 […]

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