There’s a growing call for more police action over tracing a lettings agent who is apparently missing – as is some thousands of pounds owed to landlords and tenants.

Letting Agent Today last week reported on missing Frank Smart, the owner of Smart Residential in Newmarket. He has not been seen since the end of July when a notice on his office door told callers that a move to new premises had been ‘delayed due to unforeseen circumstances’.

The Newmarket Journal now reports that landlords (some owed three months in rent) and tenants (who understand that their deposits have not been put in any appropriate security scheme) are up in arms about an apparent absence of police action.

The newspaper says Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre – to which the police referred complaints about Smart Residential – has warned landlords and tenants of up to four months’ wait for a response.

One landlord is quoted as saying: “We don’t seem to be getting anywhere with Action Fraud so we need the local police to get involved with immediate effect. The files in that office need to be secured so that pending a court case we have evidence of any wrong doing.”

Another landlord said that Suffolk Police had told her the only action they could take was to deal with the missing keys as a possible case of theft, which could then be subject to a criminal investigation.

You can read the newspaper’s full story here.