Critic and former pupil of Samuel Leeds receives legal warnings via the property guru’s legal team

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Andrew Burgess, a former student of property trainer Samuel Leeds who says he wants to highlight the guru’s activities after attending several of his courses, has been served with a letter from a law firm asking him to delete all the social media sites that he controls.

These are the well-known Facebook group The Truth About Samuel Leeds and also Burgess’ Property Education Truth Seeker channel on Youtube.

The letter warns that his ‘campaign’ against Leeds is both defamatory and constitutes harassment and that Burgess has made false allegations against Leeds, and incited others to do so. It also accuses him of ‘malicious communication’ after Burgess contacted several former Leeds students.

The legal spat is the latest in a long-running campaign by Leeds to tackle Burgess and other critics of his property investment strategies, methods which are promoted tirelessly on the internet and social media by the guru via his property academy, Property Investors.

Mishcon de Reya

In February this year Burgess was served with a similar ‘cease and desist’ letter from another legal firm, Mishcon de Reya, which informed Burgess that he had been reported to the police, although Burgess claims no further legal action or police investigation has subsequently materialised.

As LandlordZONE, several national newspapers, the BBC and other media outlets have reported in the past, the key criticisms of Leeds and his many copycats is that their courses attempt to teach inexperienced members of the public how to make a ‘passive income’ with ‘no money down’.

These include Rent to Rent and Lease Option agreements, joint ventures, serviced accommodation packaging and deal sourcing – even though these require amazing sales skills, local contacts and property sector experience and knowledge, attributes many of his student do not possess. His courses start at £995 but can cost up to £12,000.

Burgess has told LandlordZONE that he is not phased by the letters that Leeds’ legal representatives continue to send him, and he intends to ignore them as he has done in the past.

“I have asked my solicitor to look at them and have been assured there is no legal basis for their claims or demands,” he says. “They are just an attempt to cower me into silence.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Critic and former pupil of Samuel Leeds receives legal warnings via the property guru’s legal team | LandlordZONE.

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No more tenant chasing? Free platform aims to make HMOs a ‘passive investment’

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A radical HMO management platform and home finding site has been launched to let landlords self-manage properties automatically without using letting agents.

Developed by proptech company COHO (Company for Life Ltd), it aims to shake up the lettings market using artificial intelligence to minimise vacancies and connect compatible tenants.

Founder and CEO Vann Vogstad explains that it’s an assistant not a database which, instead of warning a landlord when an action needs doing, can notify them when it’s been done.

“When the gas safety certificate is due for renewal, the system will connect with the required supplier and the supplier will then connect with the tenants and say, ‘we need to arrange a visit within the next three days’,” he says. “The landlord doesn’t need to be involved.”

Rent collection

More than 20 services, such as maintenance and rent collection, can be dealt with online; the system reports when the rent has been paid and if it hasn’t, will chase payment and offer advice if people are struggling to pay.

“Even when a tenant hands in their notice, the system can automatically handle all of the end-of-tenancy processes such as deposit and inventory, and automatically relist the vacant room,” adds Vogstad.

“Viewing appointments then go through to the remaining tenants and when a good match is found, the process starts all over again with the automated issuing and exchanging of contracts.”

A tenant looking for a room signs up to COHO and creates a brief profile outlining their age range, interests and profession. The platform can then match them with properties whose existing tenants are likely to be compatible.

COHO is free to use to manage the first 10 units (rooms) and then charges £1 for each unit. “The end-game is a system which enables HMOs to be a passive investment,” says Vann. “At the moment, unless you’re paying for someone to manage it, this is impossible, but it needn’t be.”

Read more about HMOs

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – No more tenant chasing? Free platform aims to make HMOs a ‘passive investment’ | LandlordZONE.

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Landlords accuse Khan of scaremongering following evictions ‘tsunami’ remarks

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The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has accused Mayor of London Sadiq Khan of scaremongering after he claimed that up to a quarter of tenants are in arrears and at risk of eviction.

With the courts due to start hearing possession cases from 24^th August, it has written to the mayor calling for an end to rhetoric and greater collaboration between him and private landlords.

This week, Khan warned that the capital faced a “devastating tsunami of evictions”, pointing to research which estimates a quarter of London’s 2.2 million privately renting adults have fallen behind on their rent, or say they are likely to do so soon. He says this equates to half a million people potentially facing eviction and is calling for an extension of the evictions ban.

However, the NRLA believes there’s no evidence to justify these claims and says its recent poll shows that 95% of tenants in London are either paying their rent in full or have reached an arrangement with their landlord to avoid arrears.

It says new rules being introduced will mean courts can adjourn possession cases where landlords have failed to demonstrate that they have fully taken account of the impact that the pandemic might have had on their tenants before seeking possession.

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “It is not in anyone’s interests to cause unnecessary anxiety for tenants through making wild predictions about people losing their home.

“With new court rules in place, it will be in the interests of landlords to do everything they can to sustain tenancies where possible. It is that spirit of co-operation that we need to build upon.”

It has urged Khan to support a targeted financial package for tenants to clear rent arrears caused as a direct result of COVID-19. This would enable them to feel secure while sustaining landlords’ rental income.

Read more about Khan’s rental market campaign.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Landlords accuse Khan of scaremongering following evictions ‘tsunami’ remarks | LandlordZONE.

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LATEST: Private landlords now making majority of possession claims

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Figures just out from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) reveal that private landlords have become the most common instigators of possession claims against tenants, turning the usual ratio on its head.

During the lockdown months (April to June) a minority (27% or 823) of all landlord possession claims were social landlords while the group making up the largest proportion (44% or 1,317) were private.

This contrasts with previous quarters. During April to June 2019, the majority(58% or 15,581) of all landlord possession claims were social landlords, and accelerated claims and private landlord claims made up just 19% and 23% of all landlord claims respectively.

During these three months the totals were 2,022 claims, 658 orders and 268 warrants were made, although these cannot be progressed to bailiff repossessions at this time.

Standstill

Despite these figures, nevertheless they show that possession activity had come to a complete standstill by June; during the preceding three months landlord possession claims, orders and warrants, when compared to the same three months last year, plummeted by 97%, 96% and almost 100% respectively.

And no repossessions by county court bailiffs have been recorded for this quarter. But the MoJ says that despite the huge declines in evictions activity during the Covid lockdown, property possession actions across all types (mortgage and landlord repossessions) had already been falling since the beginning of 2020.

Read more about the evictions ban.

Read the possessions data in full.

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SAL dismayed by Nicola Sturgeons eviction ban announcement

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The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) said they were dismayed by Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that she wished to extend the tenant eviction ban until the end of March 2021 despite this having to first be passed through the Scottish Parliament.

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Green Homes Grant disappointment?

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The Green Homes Grant is a useless scheme for landlords.

1. It appears that tenants on benefits cannot apply for improvements to their rented properties.
2. It does not include upgrading boilers.
3. The Primary category is a financially unviable barrier to accessing the Secondary category.

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