Can we Save You Money on Landlord Insurance?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Property118 could save you money on your landlord insurance. Whether a single property, portfolio, HMO, landlord contents, sub-let, flood risk, renovation, unoccupied property or even your own residential home, we have access to some of the best rates in the UK through The Home Insurer and have tasked them to save you money on your existing or new policies.

The post Can we Save You Money on Landlord Insurance? appeared first on Property118.

View Full Article: Can we Save You Money on Landlord Insurance?

From Scam Artists to Family Feuds – ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ continues

admin    Uncategorized     agents

In this week’s episode of Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants
Slum Landlords’, Landlord Action tackles two very different eviction cases, one
involving an illegal sub-let by a ‘professional’ scam artist, the other which
sees a favour turn into a family feud.

In the first case, young landlord Han Yip discovers his West
London flat is being illegally sublet to three unsuspecting students. They have
been paying thousands of pounds to live in an exclusive part of London, but
their rent is being pocketed by the man who posed as the legitimate tenant.
Flaunting his seemingly ‘flashy’ life on Instagram and showing off about his
‘property business empire’, he is in fact a scam artist, who has spent time in
a US prison on fraud charges.

Calling on the help of Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action,
Han Yip is determined to expose the rogue tenant and reclaim his debts. Paul comments:
“Han Yip was very unlucky. He had done everything correctly, from using a
professional letting agent to carrying out thorough referencing. Unfortunately,
this particular fraudster had changed the spelling of his name among other tricks
to slip through referencing.  Illegal sub-letting
is becoming something of an epidemic in London and more needs to be done to
prevent cases like these.�

In the second case, Landlord Action is called upon to help
end an unusual family disagreement.  Three
years ago, Sade Ademoye took pity on her cousin Kirk, who was in dire straits
after his divorce. Agreeing to temporarily let a room to him in her elderly
mother’s home, Sade also gave him a cheap rate. But after her mother passed
away, he refused to leave. With this family feud turning acrimonious, Sade also
turns to help from Paul and his team to evict her cousin.

“This tenant took advantage of his cousin’s late Mother
and took over the property, even though the agreement was only to rent a
room.  He then refused to leave. These stories,
and others throughout the series, demonstrate the diversity of cases that we have
to deal with at Landlord Action and the reasons landlords look to gain
possession.  It is rarely non-fault but
often landlords feel powerless and turn to eviction as an absolute last resort.�

Watch Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords on Channel 5, Mondays
at 9pm

About Landlord Action

Landlord Action is a UK based organisation helping landlords,
letting agents and other property professionals. As a champion for landlords,
it has campaigned extensively and was instrumental in getting the law changed
to make squatting a criminal offence.

It was founded in 1999 as the first ever fixed-fee tenant eviction
specialist, they revolutionised this area of legal practice. They have now
acted in more than 35,000 problem tenant cases and are considered the authority
in this field.

Landlord Action run a free advice line to help landlords and
property professionals understand their rights: 0333 321 9415

www.LandlordAction.co.uk

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – From Scam Artists to Family Feuds – ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ continues | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: From Scam Artists to Family Feuds – ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ continues

Tenants can reclaim excess on their deposits…

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Tenant Fees Act:

The ban on letting fees and excess tenancy charges in
England came into force nearly two weeks ago. This is a new set of regulations
affecting landlords and letting agents which the Government estimated will cost
(in aggregate) landlords up to £83m and letting agents £157m.

The new rules apply to new or renewed tenancy agreements signed
on or after 1 June 2019.

Similar legislation was imposed in Scotland a couple of
years ago, and are on the cards for Wales from this September. A ban will not
be brought in Northern Ireland until there is a sitting assembly able to pass
the relevant legislation.

So, in some case tenants will be entitled to a partial deposit
refund should they renew a tenancy that commenced before the 1^st of
June, and where a deposit was taken which exceeded the 5 week rule. As it has
been commonplace for landlords and agents to request at least 6 week deposits and
sometimes more, there could be a considerable number of tenants entitled to
refunds on renewal in the future.

The new law prevents landlords or their agents requesting
most types of fees associated with letting a property in the private rented
sector in England, fees that were previously taken as a matter of course, not
so much by private landlords but most certainly by agents.

Unless payments appear in a statutory list (Schedule 1 of the Act) of permitted payments no fees can now be taken and penalties for transgressions are quite sever. A breach of the legislation will usually be a civil breach with a financial penalty of up to £5,000, so it’s very important that landlords and agents understand the rules on this. Tenant Fees Act

If a further breach should be committed within five years of
the imposition of a financial penalty or a conviction for a previous breach,
this will be a criminal offence. Upon conviction, the penalty is an unlimited
fine and a banning order offence under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

As with some other transgressions however, enforcement
authorities can now impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 as an
alternative to prosecution. In such as case the local authority will have
discretion over whether to prosecute or impose a financial penalty. Where a
financial penalty is imposed it will not amount to a criminal conviction.

The ban includes fees for viewings, credit checks,
references, inventories and the drawing up of a tenancy agreement, all of which
have traditionally been charged and in some extreme cases have led to upfront
costs for tenants of up to £800.

Other than rent, in practice the only fees that landlords or
letting agents can charge tenants are refundable security deposits capped at no
more than one weeks’ rent (annual rent divided by 52), providing the total
annual rent is less than £50,000, or six weeks’ rent if over this. However,
there are some other costs that can be charged – see the links above.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Tenants can reclaim excess on their deposits… | LandlordZONE.

View Full Article: Tenants can reclaim excess on their deposits…