Tenants saved by existing landlord in fake landlord scam

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A fake landlord used Facebook to copy and paste property details and pictures from a rental listing on Rightmove and scammed prospective tenants from Plymouth out of £1,200.

Jenny Foster-Mitchell, who was taken in by the imposter, reported to the local paper The Herald (click here to see article) saying:

“The house was listed at £600 per calendar month including bills. It looked perfect. We got in touch at the end of August by commenting on the post.

“We didn’t get a reply straight away so we sent a direct message to the landlord on Facebook asking for more details. We got a message back giving us more details and letting us know that pets were welcome in the house, which was perfect for us.”

When Jenny asked to view the property she was told the agents had the keys, but she could go and visit the property with her partner to look at from the outside

Jenny said: “She (the imposter) said we could go and have a look at it through the windows to see if it was what we wanted. “We went and had a look at it and it was exactly the same as the photos.

“We were very keen to find somewhere new and we liked it so we were happy to go ahead with it. We were sent a tenancy agreement which we completed and sent back. Everything seemed normal.”

Jenny and her partner agreed to pay one month’s rent and one month’s deposit in advance to secure the property.

However the imposter then got greedy and asked Jenny to pay £400 for maintenance before they move in.

Jenny reported: “I was thinking, we shouldn’t have to pay for maintenance, and this was even written into the tenancy agreement we had signed, but then she threatened to add the bills to the monthly rent so we agreed.

“At this point we were getting wary, but we were so desperate to get out. We had made all of the other payments through online bank transfer, but this time she wanted us to use MoneyGram.

“We did attempt to make the £400 maintenance payment but MoneyGram wouldn’t release it, thank god, until I spoke to them to confirm the details.

“Shortly after this, we decided to search for the property and came across it on Rightmove. That is when it all unravelled.

Jenny contacted Martin & Co the listing agent who confirmed that the name of the fake landlord they had been dealing with did not match the name that they had.

“We confronted the woman (imposter) and she said that she didn’t like not being trusted and then blocked us.”

However, after giving notice on their existing property the current landlord came to the rescue.

“Thankfully our current landlord allowed us to retract our notice. They have been brilliant throughout this ordeal and have really helped us.”

Director at Martin & Co, Chris Whitaker told The Herald: “In this particular instance, we were made aware by the victim of this ‘scam’ and that some of our marketing images had been extracted from our website and used without consent on Facebook by an individual purporting to be the landlord.

“We immediately recommended that the tenant contact the police to report the incident and have also sought to identify other potential options to support the victim in finding alternative accommodation. Unfortunately this type of property scam is becoming increasingly common throughout Devon.

“Our advice to all potential tenants is to be extremely cautious when it comes to passing money to unregulated agents or landlords who are able to act anonymously and with relative impunity through various internet sites and online forums.

“Tenants should instead seek to use regulated agents who are members of the Association of Residential Letting Agents and members of a government approved Client Money Protection scheme.”

A lesson for due dilligence, but a partial good news story in the end.

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NLA Budget recommendations

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Ahead of the Chancellor’s next budget on the 22nd of November the National Landlords Association (NLA) has made representation to HM Treasury focusing on support for investment in the Private Rental Sector (PRS) and implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act.

The summary of the recommendations are:

1) Embark on an immediate review of the removal of finance cost relief for private landlords

2) Introduce a package of Capital Gains Tax reduction measures to encourage the sale of:

• Poorly performing investment properties.
• Properties where the proceeds of the sale will be entirely reinvested into the lettings business.
• Properties invested in, and utilised, for a period of more than 10 years.
• Properties that are eligible and suitable for sale to existing tenants.

3) Introduce measures to facilitate the tax-efficient movement of a letting portfolio into a corporate structure.

4) Establish a government-backed investment vehicle to allow the sale of properties into a managed fund.

5) Reintroduce the Landlords’ Energy Saving Allowance (LESA), and establish a level sufficient to improve the tax efficiency of carrying out relevant works.

6) Set LESA at a level sufficient to improve the tax efficiency of carrying out works

7) Fund the expansion of Help to Rent nationwide

8) Establish a national deposit guarantee scheme for the private rented sector

9) Remove the Capital Gains Tax surcharge for property sales

10) Introduce Capital Gains Tax tapering and business asset rollover relief for private residential property which is let.

11) Abolish the Stamp Duty Land Tax levy on additional property

To download the full NLA Budget submission to the Treasury please Click Here

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Landlord Law Workshop – Consumer Law & Landlords

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Consumer Law:

The consumer law rules apply when a ‘supplier’ provides a product or services to a ‘consumer’.

• If you are a letting agent then you are a ‘supplier’ to landlords and tenants.
• If you are a landlord you are a ‘supplier’ to your tenants but will usually be a ‘consumer’ to letting agents.

How does this affect your business?

Consumer law is generally all about fairness and the regulations are generally providing for you to behave (if you are a supplier) in a fair way, and penalising you if you fail to do this.

But

• What is ‘fairness’,
• What obligations does it place on you if you are a supplier, and
• “hat are the penalties imposed on you if you fail to meet the standards?

This is the subject of a special workshop from Easy Law Training and solicitor David Smith which will be taking place in Norwich on 8 December 2017.

Here are some of the things David will be looking at:

• The formal requirements on suppliers regarding the provision of information and  (for letting agents) transparency as regards fees
• The rights and obligations of landlords and agents as regards commission for tenancy renewals
• ‘Fairness’ rules and advertising properties
• The circumstances under which consumers can end contracts – eg agency agreements or tenancies – where the various ‘fairness’ rules have not been complied with
• Property Redress Schemes and
• Codes of Conduct

Many landlords and agents do not consider that the consumer legislation applies to them.  It is true that this legislation is not well known and therefore not well used by consumers.  However, this is changing and it is better to be compliant and safe than non-compliant and vulnerable to the penalties (which can sometimes be severe).

As usual with a David Smith workshop, you will come away with all the information you need to ensure that you are compliant with the law.

Find out more here

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Choke off buy-to-let call from Tory MP

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Landlords targeted:

Neil O’Brien, Conservative MP for Harborough and a former adviser to Theresa May and George Osborne, says: “Choke buy-to-let to help deliver home ownership for young voters” in a recent article for the FT.

The Conservatives are desperately trying to identify policies which would put a stop the party’s dramatic loss of support from younger voters, which will likely include easing the burden of tuition fees and reducing housing costs for the young.

It is thought likely the prime minister will outline new thinking on these issues at the upcoming party conference in October, after opinion polls are suggesting that the Tory’s lead over Labour in June’s general election only exists among voters over the age of 47.

O’Brien argues that children of baby boomers are now missing out on the opportunities their parents had, with their free tuition and affordable housing.

Arguing in the FT that the traditional (Thatcher) Conservative policy of encouraging more home ownership had slipped dramatically and was damaging the party, he says: “over the past 10 years, the proportion of 16-34-year-olds owning their own home fell from roughly half to a third. Baby boomers were 50 per cent more likely to own their own home at age 30 than millennials (born 1981-2000).”

The call for a fresh war on buy-to-let landlords comes as a new report from payment firm WorldFirst puts the UK down 10 places in the European rankings for buy-to-let property returns, with Ireland, Malta and Portugal named as the top three best nations for landlords. The report puts Britain at 25th best place in Europe for private landlords, with average rental yields of 4% and as low as 2% in some parts of London, whereas as Ireland comes in at 7.08%, Malta at 6.64% and Portugal at 6.43%.

Still reeling from George Osborne’s swinging tax increases over the last couple of years, buy-to-let landlords, many of whom are traditionally Conservative supporters, are unlikely to welcome O’Brien’s intervention.

There are an estimated to be around 22.8 million households in England. No one knows the exact number of course, but of these, it is estimated around 14.3 million are owner-occupied, making up 63pc of the market – a figure much to the consternation of some in the Conservative ranks, as home ownership is party policy – down from its peak of 71pc in 2003, but the figure has remained unchanged for the past three years.

The vast majority of the UK’s private rented housing stock is owned by landlords with just a single property – in the main small-scale landlords who invested for their pensions when other forms of investment offered derisory returns.

Despite significant institutional investment in the sector, which is growing, encouraged by government policy and tax breaks for large-scale developers, over 93% of landlords in the UK have a single rental property and together they account for 81% of privately rented stock.

These landlords are unlikely to thank a so called “business friendly” party for scapegoating them for a housing shortage which they would argue is not of their making and which in fact, it may be argued, they have largely helped to alleviate.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Choke off buy-to-let call from Tory MP | LandlordZONE.

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