Rogue lettings agency coughs up £16,000 it owes

Two landlords will this evening be seen securing the £16,000 they are owed by a rogue lettings agent - and TV cameras were there to record it.

This evening’s episode of Channel 5’s Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords sees the eviction specialist company Landlord Action helping the two recover £16,000 owed by London lettings agency Lang and Ward.

Lang and Ward have a number of highly critical reviews on AllAgents.

In this evening’s episode the landlords discover that the agency has been keeping their tenant’s rent and has changed its name in at least one of its premises.

Landlord Action founder Paul Shaplina says: “If ever people needed to understand the significance of using a letting agent which has Client Money Protection, this is it. Ironically, these rogues, Lang and Ward, attempted to join our sister company, Client Money Protect, but were refused membership as they had doctored and falsified their bank statements.”

He continues: “Now that CMP is mandatory for all letting agents, greater protection for landlords’ rents and tenants’ deposits is in place. In this case, [the landlords] were extremely lucky to be able to collect their stolen rent back, but unfortunately many other landlords who contacted us were not so lucky as the business closed down.”

And he concludes: “Some letting agents will find the market more challenging now that the Tenant Fees Ban is in place so, while I would always recommend landlords use a letting agent to fully manage their property, it is imperative they carry out thorough due diligence on their prospective agent first. This includes ensuring they are a member of a redress scheme and have CMP.”

The programme, which is the second in a series of 10, airs this evening on Channel 5 at 9pm.