Jan

Join the petition to regulate the ‘property education’ market

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On Monday night, I watched BBC Inside Out London which, following the tragic death of Danny Butcher who took his own life, has been investigating London based company, Property Investors.

The company tells its customers they can make
a fortune if they sign up to their training course. It’s a two-day free course
where attendees are supposedly shown how to find cheap houses for sale on
property websites and then how to work out rental income. The trainers then say
to be really successful at ‘Deal Sourcing’, attendees can pay for further
training course – which cost in excess of £10,000.

Danny, who already had some outstanding debt,
was persuaded to sign up and paid £13,000 to join Property Investors Academy. However, after finding himself unable to make
the training work, and having been refused a full refund, Danny felt there was no
other way out.

Companies like Property Investors, run by Samuel
Leads, make guaranteed financial freedom sound easy, claiming individuals can
make between £30-£50k per month, as the undercover reporter, Abi Jaiyeola
discovered. Whilst it can be argued that
people make their own choice to attend such courses, there is no doubt in my
mind that they exploit already vulnerable people.

In another example highlighted on the show,
Andrew Whyte explained how he had told the company he could not afford to sign
up to the Academy. However, after been
persuaded to open his banking App, was convinced to invest his army pension to
undertake the course. He felt pressurised into paying for the training
after being told the price would go up if he didn’t sign up that day. He
has not had any deals or the one-to-one mentoring he was promised and is now
facing severe hardship. He is having to pursue
the company through the small claims court for a refund.

Dianne Granville, who managed to get a refund
for her training, is currently assisting 78 other people to get refunds in
a joint class action.

A petition has been launched by Danny
Butcher’s family calling for regulation of the property training sector. You
can view and sign up HERE
.

I must make clear, there are some very credible property educators out there
but there needs to be a way for people to clearly identify the good guys from
the rogues, as with any industry. As we know, affecting change can be a lengthy
process and requires an enormous amount of support. So, I am currently working with Cyril Thomas
of Property Investors Bureau on what we can do NOW to start cleaning up the industry.

Here is what Cyril has to say: –

“Many of you will know that the Property Investors Bureau
will soon be launching the Property Educators Accreditation Scheme aimed at
addressing significant and devastating issues within the property
education sector. The main aim of the scheme will be to give credible
property educators a way to clearly differentiate themselves from other
property educators.

It is
important to say the Property Educators Accreditation Scheme (PEAS) has not yet
accepted any applications from property educators as the PIB team are working
hard behind the scenes with a number of respected individuals and organisations
in our industry. The PIB’s advisory board consists of leading industry figures
such as Richard Bowser of Property Investor News and Paul Shamplina of Landlord
Action. You can view all of the members of our advisory board
at https://pibuk.org/advisory-board.”

From working with the likes of the Property Investors
Bureau, and other names in the industry such as Vanessa Warwick and Kate
Faulkner, it’s clear this sector of the market needs to be addressed. The first
part of this is with the Property Education Accreditation Scheme. Members that
apply to be part of this trade body will have to be part of a redress scheme
which I’m pleased to confirm the Property Redress Scheme are already looking to
assist with.

However, my advice to anyone looking to work with a property education provider
is to do your research! First of all, look the company and the people behind
the company up on Google. Look at their financial history regarding filing
accounts and any detrimental credit reports. Then check out review sites, as
well as going on important landlord forums such as those on LandlordZone,
and also PropertyTribes
as a starter. Also, speak to people who
have been on the courses before and get their views.

Its imperative they have a
clear refund policy, a complaints procedure and are fully transparent in terms
of costs and fees.

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