First-time landlord warns others over letting agent who cost her thousands

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A new landlord has warned others about using a letting agent who faked documents to try and convince her to invest in a buy-to-let and failed to use a tenancy deposit scheme at another property.

Nelly Berova bought a flat in Birkenhead last December (main picture) and used Peninsular Property Consultants North West to find a tenant.

Director Joe Bindley (pictured) told her he had put the deposit in a scheme and then suggested she invest £70,000 in another house he had found through a local property sourcing firm.

Berova paid him the £1,200 fee and started the survey process. When problems were flagged up, she says Bindley dismissed them and provided documents proving roofing and electrical work had been carried out – which were later found out to be fake. Nelly then pulled out of the purchase.

Meanwhile, at her first property, the tenant stopped paying rent and when Nelly contacted her, she was told Bindley had entered the property without prior agreement, cut the gas off and put up an eviction notice.

She then found out that the deposit had not been lodged with an authorised protection scheme and Berova has had to stump up £1,840 in compensation to the tenant. The agent has so far cost her more than £4,500, she says.

No comment

LandlordZONE contacted Bindley for comment. He said he was “more than happy to have any input however unfortunately I no longer have any capacity to comment or act on the company’s behalf”.

He then suggested LandlordZONE contact Becky at Bespoke Insolvency and “she’ll deal with anything required”.

It is understood that his former company’s financial affairs are being handled by Bespoke, but the business is now under new management and ownership trading as Peninsula Property. Its new owners say Bindley is no longer associated with the firm, although his profile picture and bio remains on its website.

Nelly (pictured) says she has approached Peninsula Property Consultants North West’s redress scheme the PRS for help, but the organisation’s remit prevents it from dealing with companies that are not members anymore and/or which have gone into liquidation.

A spokesperson says its compliance officer will keep an eye out to see if the new incarnation of Peninsula Property joins its scheme, and also for any references to Bindley. It suggests Berova contacts local trading standards or the police if she wishes to take further action.

“To top it all, my tenant has stopped paying rent again and disappeared so it looks like I’ll need to evict her,” says Berova.

“The liquidation company registered my claim but said there’s no point taking him to court as there are no assets in the company. I probably won’t get my money back but at least want to prevent others from being burned by him.” 

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – First-time landlord warns others over letting agent who cost her thousands | LandlordZONE.

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Can I go back to HMRC and request an amendment to Probate?

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My mother-in-law passed away earlier this year. I got a valuation and applied for probate. The total assets were below the IHT threshold. The house is now on the market and the value has gone up by £75k, which makes me think the original valuation was a bit low.

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My procrastination will end up costing my kids £300,000

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“Learning from other peoples experience is much less expensive than making your own mistakes”.

I read that on Property118 several years ago and it has always stuck with me. So, to give something back I’m sharing my story so that other Property118 members don’t make the same huge mistake that I did.

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LATEST: Advisory council green-lights pre-action protocols for private evictions

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Private landlords should be compelled to use pre-action protocols (PAPs) during eviction cases, a report by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) has said.

The influential body, which advises the Lord Chancellor, the judiciary and court administrators on modernising the civil justice system, says PAPs should be rolled out across more areas of litigation including private residential landlord evictions.

The report’s authors say that, although PAPs should be extended to apply to claims brought by private landlords, an exception should be made for claims brought under the Accelerated Procedure, which includes Section 21 notice evictions.

PAPs are a set of pre-hearing steps that litigants are either asked or compelled to undertake prior to a full court appearance in order to explore alternative avenues, including when involving rent arrears a repayment plan and/or mediation.

During the early months of Covid, PAPs were proposed by the Master of the Rolls for the PRS to manage the squeezed civil courts but the plan was later shelved ‘for the time being’.

Scottish PAPs

But tenants and landlords were required to consider mediation prior to their case being reviewed by a judge, the step before a substantive hearing. And although England stepped away from PAPs for the PRS, they were introduced in Scotland in May last year.

Also, PAPs are already used by both social housing tenants and landlords for disrepair cases and evictions, and by mortgage firms where homeowners are in arrears.

The CJC report also recommends that landlords seeking advice on how to begin PAPs prior to an eviction hearing should be steered away from using unregulated firms via an official list of approved suppliers, and also given advice on how to start proceedings in person.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Advisory council green-lights pre-action protocols for private evictions | LandlordZONE.

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Make malicious non-payment of rent a criminal offence and ‘specific ground for eviction’ say landlords

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Landlords in Scotland have told researchers that ‘malicious non-payment of rent’ should be included within the legal definition of theft and become a specific mandatory ground for eviction.

Following months of Covid-related eviction bans and evidence of increasing rent arrears, researchers at Glasgow University’s UK Centre for Housing Evidence polled hundreds of private landlords to find out how they thought the rental sector could be improved.

Its report concludes that: “The challenge, of course, would be finding a definition of ‘malicious non-payment’ which courts could actually work with.

“However, the challenges posed by malicious non-payment suggest that it is worthy of further consideration.”

Nearly two thirds of the landlords polled, who were presented with a range of options, singled out malicious non-payment as the key solution to rent arrears, along with direct payment of benefits, a streamlined arrears processes, a tenants register and making it easier to chase rent debts.

John Blackwood, Chief Executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords (pictured), says: “We welcome any contribution to the debate that moves us forward in solving Scotland’s housing crisis and what role the PRS should have in meeting that goal, particularly after the effects of the pandemic which has seen both landlords and tenants struggle. 

“We support the findings of the CaCHE report and measures which help tenants fulfil their responsibility to pay their rent and encourage landlords to be understanding and flexible as they have shown throughout the pandemic.”

The report’s authors Andrew Watson and Nick Bailey agree with this point, saying: “Landlords are a very heterogeneous group and not all have the ability to easily absorb the resulting losses.

“Some have themselves been adversely affected by the pandemic in terms of their own employment and their health.

“Over one fifth (23%) of landlords report that their PRS income is ‘critical’ as it is their ‘primary income’.

Read more about the current Scottish evictions situation.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Make malicious non-payment of rent a criminal offence and ‘specific ground for eviction’ say landlords | LandlordZONE.

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A few simple tricks can prevent your property being sold off under your nose

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The Land Registry titles register is a new target for criminal gangs and literally millions of pounds are at risk if your home or rental property is wholly owned and mortgage free.

According to official figures, something like 99pc of property owners have failed to signed up to vital safeguards at the Land Registry, a simple measure that is sure to protect you from this type of crime. There are numerous variations on this crime theme and these clever scams have multiplied recently during the pandemic property boom.

It’s a free protection process

For those who take advantage of the Land Registry’s free alert service a notification will be sent to you (and if you like, your solicitor as well) when any local authority searches are made. A search is a red flag that a conveyancer is preparing your property for sale.

Setting up the service on the Land Registry website is a task that takes just a few minutes, but unfortunately only a minority of people actually take the time, either because they don’t know about it, or they just can’t be bothered.

The Land Registry says that just around one quarter million of Britain’s 29 million homes have been set up on the Land Registry’s anti-fraud “property alert service” which has been available free since 2014.

The Daily Telegraph reports the recent case of a Luton man who returned home from working away to find his house had been sold by these scammer criminals and all his furniture had been removed from the house. When he arrive home after neighbours had called him he was greeted by the new owner of the house, the illusive scammers having syphoned off the sale proceeds.

This is not an isolated incident. It’s been happening for years, with hundred of people being affected, and it’s getting worse as time goes on. Last year The Land Registry was forced to pay compensation of £3.5m to owners of properties who fell victim to the scams, a figure which is over 60% up on the previous year.

Fortunately owners have state protection, a state guarantee through a special indemnity fund for financial crime that will compensate owners, but this nowhere near compensates for the stress and upheaval, let alone the consequential losses suffered.

Title fraud and registration fraud

Title fraud is where a criminal steals a property owner’s identity and changes the property title from the owner’s name to their own. They will do this through the Land Registry website, making an application without your knowledge by registering a forged transfer or mortgage. The criminals then apply for loans using the property as collateral.

During the Covid period people have been self-isolating in their own homes and many now have a business property that is unoccupied. Business premises are not safe either from these fraudsters who have been taking advantage of the pandemic to make more money in this way.

Even when you live in the property, this won’t stop these fraudsters from perpetrating their clever tricks.

Those most at risk

Most at risk from these types of fraud are people who own their properties outright, without the encumbrance of a mortgage. Secondly, an empty or tenanted property is more at risk.

• Those owners not registered with the LR alert service
• absent owners, either abroad, in hospital, in care homes etc
• landlords and those with tenanted properties
• beneficiaries of owners who have died
• long-time owners with more equity in their property
• sole owners
• properties at most risk are
• high value properties
• empty properties

The Land Registry says that combating these types of fraud is priority.

“Our specialist counter fraud teams focus on detection, prevention and education, working with professional conveyancers, such as solicitors, who are required to make checks to prevent fraud and money laundering. We are actively encouraging conveyancers to use digital cryptographic ID checking as a more secure means of identifying people,” a spokesperson has said.

What can you do to stay safe?

Us the Land Registry’s Property Alert service. Simply sign up on the website to receive email alerts from HM Land Registry by setting up a Property Alert account. The Land Registry says you can monitor the property of friends or family and any commercial property you own. If anyone applies to change the register for a property you are monitoring, you (and if you like someone else, like your solicitor) will be notified immediately.

Bear in mind, landlords are more at risk than the general population. Make sure HM Land Registry has your up-to-date details, correct name and address and email. Without this you might miss official letters or notices alerting you to a fraudulent application.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – A few simple tricks can prevent your property being sold off under your nose | LandlordZONE.

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Moving into a former home and PRR?

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Hi, this question mainly relates to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Principal Private Residence Relief (PRR). I know you are going to tell me to speak to my advisers, but they are simply not property experts and just don’t know.

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Victory! Landlord challenges council’s £54,000 benefit overpayment bill

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A London landlord is celebrating after successfully challenging a £54,500 Housing Benefit overpayment bill from his council.

The demand was made in July when a ‘cousin’ of the tenant told both the council and the landlord that the tenant had left the property back in 2017 – and insisted the landlord had been informed at the time.

The council then revised the benefit award retrospectively for four years, creating a £54,000 overpayment.

UC Advice & Advocacy Ltd’s Bill Irvine (pictured) appealed against the decision, pointing out that the tenant had never notified the landlord and had even reported heating faults in 2018, allowed access to contractors and had continued to make top-up payments until mid-July 2018.

Irvine believes that the tenant probably handed the keys to a friend or relative who then occupied the property, knowing that housing benefit was covering most of the rent.

Legitimacy

“I questioned the legitimacy of the council acting on information provided by someone other than the tenant,” Irvine tells LandlordZONE.

“The cousin had no authority to act on behalf of the landlord, however the tenant had an obligation to report the fact he had left to both the council, as a recipient of housing benefit, and his landlord, as he had agreed to this under the terms of his tenancy.”

Councils will pursue landlords on the basis that they could have known about a tenant’s activities and if they’ve got other benefit-claiming tenants, councils can take money from their payments until the overpayment is cleared. The DWP encourages authorities to recover these and if they’re successful, will award them a bonus of 40% of the amount.

It’s a way of generating income, adds Irvine, who advises landlords to either challenge decisions themselves or get advice, particularly if the alleged overpayments are for more than a few thousand pounds. He adds: “While that challenge is ongoing the council will supress recovery and you’ve got nothing to lose. Every time I’ve challenged one, it has been conceded.”

Read more about other housing benefit fraud cases.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Victory! Landlord challenges council’s £54,000 benefit overpayment bill | LandlordZONE.

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EICR Inspection carried out by unregistered electrical contractor?

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I have recently applied for selective licensing as required by the council. After submitting relevant documents, the council have rejected the EICR as the contractor is not registered to carry out inspections, only domestic installation.

I have subsequently managed to verify this too with NICEIC who have asked me to supply them with a copy of EICR with their trademark to warn him not to use it for EICR

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INTERVIEW: The Instagram landlord couple with an unusual portfolio strategy

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If you think 30-somethings haven’t got a hope of establishing a property portfolio in today’s competitive and expensive housing market then a few minutes in the company of Terri Baxandall may change your mind.

She and her husband Will are about to buy their ninth buy-to-let and are hoping to give up their day jobs and become full-time property investors, developers and landlords within two years – which will be just shy of six years after setting off on their investment journey.

Their voyage from ‘zero’ to ‘hero’ will raise eyebrows among traditional buy-to-let landlords; they paid for a course via a property academy fronted by TV star Martin Roberts and use alternative funding sources to buy their properties.

Terri, 32, who works part-time as a dental nurse, says they paid a significant sum to complete the course after attending earlier introduction events.

Her partner Will, 33, works full-time in site management for a new-build developer.

“We didn’t have a passion or anything like that,” she says. “Instead, we went to a free two-hour seminar about investing in property and it grew from there.”

Terri says the courses cost ‘a lot of money’ but that she believes it was the best thing they ever did despite still owing money for the original training.

“I think now we wouldn’t pay to do the courses because there’s a lot more information available online that wasn’t available then,” she adds.

“But because the course cost so much, we thought ‘this needs to work’ and we committed to it more than we would have done otherwise.”

Northern venture

Originally living on the Isle of Wight, they moved to Portsmouth to get better jobs and buy their first home, but soon realised they couldn’t crack the city’s buy-to-let market.

They then made the bold decision to make their first investments in Rotherham and went there ‘every weekend’ in order to get to know its housing market and property professionals, later relocating to Newark (an hour away) as their portfolio grew.

“Our first Rotherham property cost £26,000 in January 2019 but it needed a lot of work, much of which we did after sacking the builder,” she adds. “But it made us appreciate the cost and speed benefits of doing our own refurb work. Also, we realised it meant we could buy properties other investors wouldn’t touch.”

Terri urges others not to think that she and Will have’ made money fast’ and to remember that education is key – both to get the model right and from a regulatory perspective – in order to have a ‘viable business’.

“You still need to know what’s going on,” she adds. “And ours is a long-term plan, not a get-rich-quick scheme; at the moment we put all our profits back into the business.”

The couple has also taken an unusual approach to finance. This has included buying properties, doing them up and then refinancing them but they also court private investors – and their social media fees on Instagram and Facebook plug their proven returns on investment.

“The people who lend us the money know, like and trust us, but it takes time to gather these kinds of investors around you, and to prove you know what you’re doing,” she says.

Terry and Will’s investment activities can be seen on their Instagram account.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – INTERVIEW: The Instagram landlord couple with an unusual portfolio strategy | LandlordZONE.

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