A tenant evictions firm is currently investigating several rogue letting agents.
Paul Shamplina, of Landlord Action, states that the number of current investigations is unusually high for the company, which is used to evicting tenants on behalf of landlords and agents.
In all cases, landlords have instructed the studies.
Shamplina explains the reasons for investigations: “The three most common complaints from landlords about agents are: The agent has nicked my rent money; the agent failed to protect the tenant’s deposit and I could be liable to a penalty of three times that amount; and I paid the agent for a full management service but didn’t get one.”
He adds: “I have literally just taken a phone call about an agent who was supposedly liquidated a few years ago but is apparently still trading.”
Shamplina also sits on the advisory council for the Property Redress Scheme. He continues: “My concern is that bad agents are giving the vast majority of good agents a bad name.
“A landlord who has had a bad experience with an agent is unlikely to trust even a good one and will go down the self-management route, even if they find themselves out of their depth.”
Last week, Shamplina spoke at the Guild of Letting and Management conference.
His message to agents was to focus on providing landlords with a good service, while allowing specialist firms to deal with problems caused by bad tenants and evictions.
He believes that there are currently many problems with the evictions process, including a lack of judges and admin staff at courts, and a growing shortage of bailiffs.
He said: “You hear a lot about bad landlords, but a lot less about bad tenants who landlords want to get rid of.
“Typically, you don’t hear from these tenants for four or five months, during which no rent is paid. Then the tenant pitches up at court, complaining of disrepair, which is the best defence to an eviction.
“Or the tenant will take free advice from the court’s duty solicitor. In principle, this is a good thing, but some tenants can abuse it by finding out how they can delay the eviction process.”1
1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/tenant-evictions-firm-investigating-number-of-rogue-agents/