A wealthy landlord who set up a fake lettings agency in Hull has been jailed for 11 years for allowing ‘ghost tenants’ to...
Archive
07 February 2024
From: Breaking News
![Banned! Fraudster lettings agent jailed and cannot be a director](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/Handcuffs2-400x310.jpg)
Trading Standards has stopped a lettings agency owner from being a company director after he defrauded customers by over £80,000. Francis Smart,...
19 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Agents jailed for role in multi-million-pounds drugs crimes](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Arrested-UK-400x310.png)
Two agents who helped establish a multi-million-pound drugs ring in two cities have been jailed. Ossama Omar and Mohamed Latif ran Platinum...
21 April 2023
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agent jailed after ordering staff to make false claims](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Police-400x310.png)
The head of a Martin & Co office in Wolverhampton has been jailed over fraudulent activity. A court heard that Bhavander Singh...
16 January 2023
From: Breaking News
![Call for more due diligence after rogue letting agent jailed](/upload/images/library/rogue-letting-agent400x310.png)
Trading Standards is calling for more due diligence checks to be made following the jailing of a rogue letting agent for...
31 August 2022
From: Breaking News
![Jailed! Another 34 months for agent already guilty of assault](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/Handcuffs2-400x310.jpg)
A former lettings agent has been jailed for almost three years after admitting conning landlords out of over £80,000. The sentence for...
30 August 2022
From: Breaking News
![Lettings agent jailed after £182,000 fraud](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/police-tape400x310.png)
A lettings agent has been jailed for three years for defrauding tenants and landlords out of more than £182,000. Lee Clarke, 42,...
20 September 2021
From: Breaking News
![Porsche-driving agent crook repays just £43,000 of missing £241,000](/img/default/lat.png)
A jailed letting agent in a long-running legal saga has now been told she must repay her victims some £43,000 -...
25 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Lettings agency boss jailed for £230,000 fraud scandal](/img/default/lat.png)
A Southampton lettings agency owner has been jailed after defrauding landlords and tenants out of £230,000. Andrew Whitehead has been jailed for...
19 December 2019
From: Breaking News
![Former Labour councillor jailed after years of housing fraud](/img/default/lat.png)
A former Labour councillor and solicitor Muhammad Harun has been jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to two counts of...
20 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Cannabis alert for private rental sector as electricity thefts surge](/img/default/lat.png)
New analysis by Direct Line for Business reveals a surge in the number of police investigations into the theft of electricity,...
17 October 2019
From: Breaking News
![Crooked lettings agent in court again after row over solicitors](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agent jailed in March for taking £220,000 from tenants and landlords is now in trouble over her legal representation. Heather...
14 October 2019
From: Breaking News
![Jailed - buy to let investor who illegally converted flats](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord who illegally converted a London home into two flats without planning permission has been given a prison sentence after...
20 June 2019
From: Breaking News
![Proceeds of Crime Act to be used against jailed agents, council confirms](/img/default/lat.png)
Cornwall council has confirmed that it’s to use the Proceeds of Crime Act to try to win compensation for victims of...
25 April 2019
From: Breaking News
![Tragic anniversary reminds agents about smoke alarm regulations](/img/default/lat.png)
A regional fire service says a tragic anniversary is a good opportunity for agents and landlords to remember their legal obligations...
01 March 2019
From: Breaking News
![Jailed! Man who forged agency papers 'giving HMO planning consent'](/img/default/lat.png)
A buy to let investor who converted three family homes to HMOs without securing planning permission has been jailed for falsifying...
18 February 2019
From: Breaking News
![PropTech can help prevent fraud – here’s how](/img/default/lat.png)
Sometimes, running a lettings agency can feel as if you’re losing control of client money. Recent cases of property management fraud such...
07 February 2019
From: Sponsored Content
![Jail for men who 'made up' VAT returns for franchise lettings branch](/img/default/lat.png)
A man who submitted false VAT returns for the Lincoln franchise branch of Martin & Co for a period of six...
08 October 2018
From: Breaking News
![Jailed for five years: the agent who stole £700,000 from clients](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent who stole a reported £700,000 from clients has been jailed for five years and has been described by...
06 August 2018
From: Breaking News
![Gas fitter jailed after carrying out unsafe work on buy to let units](/img/default/lat.png)
A self-employed gas fitter has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after he carried out unsafe gas work while falsely...
06 August 2018
From: Breaking News
![Jailed: the letting agent whose inaction led to two boys' deaths](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent responsible for a property in Huddersfield which caught fire and killed two young boys has been jailed for...
20 July 2018
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agents and landlords pocket almost £1m in just six months](/img/default/lat.png)
Crooked letting agents and landlords have so far this year been convicted of illegally pocketing over £900,000 of tenant’s cash – and there’s...
17 July 2018
From: Breaking News
![Rogue tenant jailed for 16 weeks for illegally sub-letting HMO](/img/default/lat.png)
A head tenant who changed the locks on a property that was illegally sublet to no fewer than 35 men has...
22 June 2018
From: Breaking News
![Fake letting agent is finally arrested - a month after being sentenced to jail](/img/default/lat.png)
A fake agent who made thousands from letting out rooms that didn’t exist has been arrested - a month after being...
01 February 2018
From: Breaking News
![Lettings firm owner jailed for failing to repay 'illegal' rent](/img/default/lat.png)
The owner of a property firm who reportedly misled tenants and let an illegally converted property has been jailed for 155...
29 November 2017
From: Breaking News
![Gambling addict lettings agent who stole thousands is jailed](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agent who stole thousands of pounds collected from tenants has been jailed for 20 months. Kent Online reports that gambling...
16 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![Campaigning agent tells lettings sector: change is coming](/img/default/lat.png)
A prominent campaigner over the misappropriation of rental deposits has welcomed the news that government proposals to ban letting agent fees...
18 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Rogue letting agent jailed for keeping £15,000 of clients' deposits](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent has been jailed for keeping more than £15,000 in client deposits. Thirugnanaselvam Damayantharan ran See Own Properties in Purley and...
04 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Fraudster jailed after keeping 'holding deposits' from tenants](/img/default/lat.png)
A fraudster has been jailed after being convicted on nine counts of fraud, theft and forgery relating to property firms which...
09 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Jail for gunman after terrifying robberies on letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
A gunman who described himself as a would-be tenant has been jailed after two “terrifying” robberies on letting agencies. The Enfield Independent...
09 September 2016
From: Breaking News
![Property investor jailed for fraud following HMRC investigation](/img/default/lat.png)
A self-employed property investor and caterer who stole over £70,000 in a tax credit fraud, has been jailed. Khalid Farid, 59, from...
05 September 2016
From: Breaking News
![Man jailed after wrongly signing-off gas certificates for private lets](/img/default/lat.png)
A 35-year-old self-employed worker from London has been given two suspended jail terms for falsely claiming to be Gas Safe Registered and signing off certificates for privately...
23 August 2016
From: Breaking News
![Jail and £100,000 bill after 'personal wealth put before tenant safety'](/img/default/lat.png)
A private landlord has been jailed after being accused by a judge of "cutting corners" and deliberately putting his "wealth" before...
22 August 2016
From: Breaking News
![Fake letting agent jailed after swindling landlords and tenants](/img/default/lat.png)
A man who posed as a letting agent to swindle landlords and tenants has been jailed for just over two years. Legal...
02 August 2016
From: Breaking News
![A message to the public: Speak out against rogue letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The Local Government Association, representing 370 councils across England and Wales, is calling on the public to speak out against rogue...
11 July 2016
From: Breaking News
![Long prison sentence for letting agent guilty of con trick](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent who scammed dozens of tenants and landlords out of more than £220,000 of rents and deposits has been...
29 June 2016
From: Breaking News
![Letting agent jailed after admitting 13 fraud charges against tenants](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent has been jailed after reportedly tricking students into paying deposits totalling thousands of pounds for flats they could...
06 May 2016
From: Breaking News
![Fake landlord claim and false HMO documents lead to prison term](/img/default/lat.png)
A 24-year-old from Luton has been jailed after being found guilty of six counts of fraud in relation to obtaining properties...
28 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![Letting agent jailed for 10 months after stealing £27,000 from landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent who closed his New Malden firm leaving 17 landlords some £27,000 out of pocket has been jailed for...
26 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents ran £2m drugs factory in properties they managed](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency in south London has been found to be the front for a cannabis growing operation, with drugs grown...
19 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![Letting agency used as cover for vast cannabis farming network](/img/default/lat.png)
A trio of criminals have been jailed for 18 years after using the cover of a lettings agency to allow them...
13 April 2016
From: Breaking News
![Letting agent may be jailed after clients paid rent into personal account](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent has been told he faces a possible jail sentence after admitting stealing thousands of pounds from tenants. The Manchester...
04 January 2016
From: Breaking News
![Jail for businessman who didn't tell HMRC about £259,000 property income](/img/default/lat.png)
A businessman has been jailed for two years for failing to declare and pay tax on income he received from his...
30 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![10 years in jail for rent collector who deliberately drove over tenant](/img/default/lat.png)
A man has been jailed for 10 years for deliberately running over a tenant during a heated row over a rent...
25 November 2015
From: Breaking News
![Rogue letting agent jailed after taking rents, deposits and wages](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent who fled Britain to India, leaving landlords and tenants out of pocket and his staff’s wages unpaid, has...
04 September 2015
From: Breaking News
![Landlord jailed for fire safety breaches](/img/default/lat.png)
A student landlord has been sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay over £12,400 after pleading guilty to...