Rent-to-rent man becomes letting agent in franchise chain

A rent-to-rent ‘guru’ who has been running two property businesses has allegedly vanished, leaving tenants who handed over deposits out of pocket.

But in an unexpected twist, it has emerged that Daniel Burton has acquired a franchise business belonging to Xperience, part of Legal & General.

Burton, who ran two properties businesses, Unida Place and Alexander George Estates in London, is now the owner of Whitegates in Scunthorpe.

Yesterday afternoon, Legal & General said they were investigating.

A spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on Daniel Burton’s activity at Unida Place but can confirm he is the principal of VGC Properties Ltd, trading as Whitegates  Scunthorpe. We are currently conducting our own investigations.”
 
Burton, who ran seminars ‘teaching’ others how to become tenants, never move in, divide up the property into as many bedrooms as possible, and then sub-let to others, has been running two companies in London.

However, according to the Guardian, the websites for both – Unida Place and Alexander George Estates – are down and the phones are not operating. Unida Place was set up in August 2009, and Alexander George Estates in August 2010.

Burton, 25, claims to have let out 200 rooms in 40 properties and to be making £35,000 a month in rent from homes he did not own. He also ran paid-for seminars.

There are believed to be hundreds of tenants who fear that their deposits – some of more than £700 – will never be returned.

It is not known whether Burton protected the deposits. It is also understood that most of his tenants had licences to occupy, rather than tenancy agreements.

Some of those complaining of vanished deposit money have rated Unida Place on Allagents. One, posting at the weekend, said: “I got scammed: they never gave me back my deposit. After asking around, it seems they have been trading with it and did not insure it with the proper scheme. A class action is very likely. I am looking for one to join.”

Alexander George, which Burton ran from the same address as Unida Place, has no rankings on Allagents, where it describes itself as an “exciting and vibrant” estate agent which is changing the traditional model.

At the weekend’s Property Investor Show in Docklands, London, evictions expert Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action – a firm that acts for landlords, not tenants – said he was dealing with six or seven rent-to-rent cases.

Shamplina said that there were some reputable models. Others, he said, were fly-by-nights who took over landlords’ properties, often without their knowledge, leading them to lose control over their own assets. Some landlords may also be in breach of their lenders’ and insurers’ terms if a condition of their mortgage or policy is that their properties are not sub-let.

Letting Agent Today did ring the office in question to speak to Daniel Burton. We were told that he was not available.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/oct/09/rent-to-rent-disappears-daniel-burton#!