Landlords’ champion Paul Shamplina says more landlords should use lettings agents, who he describes as their “allies” in the battle to...
Archive
10 April 2024
From: Breaking News
![Letting Agent Thief sentenced after stealing over £128,000](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Arrested-UK-400x310.png)
A thieving lettings agent stole over £128,000 which should have gone to landlord clients - and with it she funded an...
07 December 2023
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agency expelled from Ombudsman but still trading illegally](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Property%20Market/PropertyNews-400x310.png)
A rogue lettings agency in London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme but is still thought to be trading. Hawks...
10 August 2023
From: Breaking News
![Three agents and landlord hit with massive fines for safety failings](/upload/images/Fine.jpg)
Three property management companies and a landlord have been fined approaching £80,000 for health and safety failings. Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, Cadogan...
22 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Six agencies fined thousands for not protecting client money](/upload/images/Fine.jpg)
Six letting agencies across the London borough of Haringey have been fined a total of £12,000 after a council clampdown. Trading Standards...
21 June 2023
From: Breaking News
![Named, Shamed, Expelled - rogue agents thrown out by Ombudsman](/upload/images/Shutterstock-only%20images/Rental%20Market/Court-UK-400x310.png)
Five agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme - all for compliance failures. The first is Home Trader Properties, in...
04 October 2022
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agent database must be expanded insists top industry figure](/upload/images/PropTech%20%26%20Online/Digital-Online-400x310.jpg)
An accreditation scheme says the government database of rogue letting agents should be expanded. The government is committed to creating a new Property...
27 September 2022
From: Breaking News
![Named and Shamed! Letting agents back controversial database](/upload/images/Housing%20Market%20%26%20Property%20Images/MillennialTenantHome-2-400x310.jpg)
A controversial database which will allow widespread access to the identities of rogue letting agents and landlords has been backed by...
23 September 2022
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
![Guilty! Letting agents used violence to illegally evict tenants](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/CourtCase-400x310.png)
A jury has ruled that a lettings agency has been guilty of illegally evicting tenants in Margate - with locks changed,...
20 July 2022
From: Breaking News
![Expelled by Ombudsman - rogue agents who refuse to pay compensation](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/CourtCase-400x310.png)
Two agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay compensation awards. Thamlet Estates, based in east London,...
20 January 2022
From: Breaking News
![Council boasts of court cases and fines against letting agents](/upload/images/Rental%20Market/Court-Fine-400x310.jpg)
One of the local authorities with the tightest clampdowns on letting agents has issued a statement celebrating its successes. Tower Hamlets council in...
19 October 2021
From: Breaking News
![Expelled! Rogue letting agents kicked out by The Property Ombudsman](/upload/images/new-story-stock-images/CourtImage-400x310.jpg)
Six agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman for failing to pay compensatory awards - five of them for offences...
11 October 2021
From: Breaking News
![Rent To Rent scandal exposed on TV show about rogue letting agent](/img/default/lat.png)
A London lettings agency is exposed on TV this evening over what turns out to be a sham guaranteed rent scheme. Landlords...
15 July 2021
From: Breaking News
![Trading Standards clampdown on rogue letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
A local Trading Standards team is clamping down on rogue letting agents. Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service has launched...
23 June 2021
From: Breaking News
![Criminal Behaviour Order for rogue agent after unlawful eviction](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency director has been issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order for unlawfully evicting a tenant back in 2019. CFDP Ltd, trading as...
30 April 2021
From: Breaking News
![Yet another agent ejected by Ombudsman may be trading illegally](/img/default/lat.png)
Another lettings agency has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay an outstanding compensation award - but...
16 April 2021
From: Breaking News
![Clampdown on letting agents backed by local councils](/img/default/lat.png)
A huge trading standards operation clamping down on lettings agents who fail to abide by Client Money Protection rules has been...
25 February 2021
From: Breaking News
![Some agents have atrocious compliance failures, claims expert](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings expert claims that many agents are failing to comply with appropriate legislation, rendering their landlord clients liable for legal...
27 November 2020
From: Breaking News
![£100,000 compensation to be paid by rogue lettings agents](/img/default/lat.png)
Three lettings agents who kept tenants’ rent instead of passing it to the landlords have been ordered to pay almost £100,000...
30 October 2020
From: Breaking News
![Name and shame rogue lettings agents, says top industry figure](/img/default/lat.png)
One of the highest profile figures in the rental sector says rogue letting agents should be named and shamed as a...
05 October 2020
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agent escapes prison after stealing almost £30,000](/img/default/lat.png)
A crooked lettings agent stole almost £30,000 from dozens of clients to prevent his business from going bankrupt. Tim Catherall, of Nottinghamshire,...
28 September 2020
From: Breaking News
![Online rental platforms should do more to stop criminal scams - call](/img/default/lat.png)
A new report demands that online rental platforms and portals allowing direct advertising by clients do more to deter fake landlords...
04 September 2020
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
![Rogue agent confronted over £23,000 stolen to fund gambling habit](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agent who stole over £23,000 from tenants to pay for his gambling habit and pay off debt has escaped...
24 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Humiliation for government as rogues’ database is largely ignored](/img/default/lat.png)
The government’s hugely-publicised database for rogue letting agents and landlords has been running for almost two years and has…wait for it…just...
07 February 2020
From: Breaking News
![Trade bodies back latest rogue agent and landlord clampdown](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents and The Guild of Property Professionals have both given their backing to the government’s latest...
06 January 2020
From: Breaking News
![Why S21 must stay: £29,000 arrears and £2,000 mess left by tenant](/img/default/lat.png)
The government and local authorities run by all political parties are keen to advocate measures to curb rogue letting agents and...
12 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agent steals thousands ... and pays back just £850](/img/default/lat.png)
A north of England letting agent who conned home owners out of thousands of pounds has been ordered to pay it back...
12 November 2019
From: Breaking News
![Shock claim that one-in-five agents still have no Client Money Protection](/img/default/lat.png)
An estimated 20 per cent of letting agents have still not signed up for a Client Money Protection scheme, six months...
27 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Rogue agents expelled by TPO for failing to pay compensation awards](/img/default/lat.png)
Two London agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to honour two compensation awards. The first is Chase...
19 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Rogue letting agents scandal is sign of bad enforcement says trade body](/img/default/lat.png)
Last week’s revelation that approaching 50 per cent of letting agents surveyed in London were in breach of the law is...
17 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![ARLA tells tenants to “walk straight out” if agent suspected of illegality](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents is urging tenants to “walk straight out” if they believe an agency is breaking the...
16 September 2019
From: Breaking News
![Fees: Lettings agent fined for the third time in as many years](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agent in London has been fined for the third time in as many years – this time for failing...
14 August 2019
From: Breaking News
![Expelled! Six lettings agencies kicked out by Ombudsman](/img/default/lat.png)
The Property Ombudsman has announced a slew of expulsions after six agents failed to comply with redress rules. They failed to abide...
12 August 2019
From: Breaking News
![Banned sales agents ‘could be setting up rogue lettings firms’ - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Lettings Agents says it fears the government needs to do more to prevent the possibility of banned...
23 July 2019
From: Breaking News
![Industry reform “toothless” if rogue agents aren’t stopped - warning](/img/default/lat.png)
There’s a warning this morning that the root-and-branch reform of the agency industry recommended by a government-backed working party will be...
19 July 2019
From: Breaking News
!['Local councils not doing enough to prosecute rogue letting agents' - NLA](/img/default/lat.png)
Local authorities are failing in their duty to prosecute criminal letting agents, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has warned. The NLA says...
04 July 2019
From: Breaking News
![Rogue lettings agency coughs up £16,000 it owes - on TV](/img/default/lat.png)
Two landlords will this evening be seen securing the £16,000 they are owed by a rogue lettings agent - and TV...
10 June 2019
From: Breaking News
![Expelled! Seven rogue letting agents kicked out of Ombudsman scheme](/img/default/lat.png)
Seven agencies have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman after failing to pay compensation awards made by TPO. All are...
03 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
![Rogue agent hit with £52,000 bill after pleading guilty to 18 offences](/img/default/lat.png)
A rogue letting agent has been ordered to pay £42,596 in fines and costs of £10,626 after pleading guilty to a...
23 April 2019
From: Breaking News
![Scandal: Agent steals £350,000 but pays back just one pound](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agent who stole over £350,000 is reported to have been told to pay back…£1. Local media in the south of...
27 March 2019
From: Breaking News
![Crooked letting agent had a Land Rover, Porsche and a Florida home](/img/default/lat.png)
A crooked letting agent took £220,000 from tenants and landlords and has been exposed as buying a home in Florida, renting...
18 March 2019
From: Breaking News
![Spending slashed on policing rogue operators in the private rented sector](/img/default/lat.png)
New figures from a leading trade body suggest that councils across England have cut by a quarter the amount they are...
28 February 2019
From: Breaking News
![NALS welcomes prison sentences for three rogue letting agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Approved Lettings Scheme has taken the unusual step of commenting on, and welcoming, the outcome of a court case...
01 February 2019
From: Breaking News
![Banned: Lettings agency boss who 'abused' tenant deposits](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings company’s management director has been disqualified for failing to protect thousands of pounds of tenants’ deposits. Kari Jade Ridout from...
13 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![Ban the Rogue Agents! NALS helps councils get tough](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Approved Letting Scheme has published the latest version of its Effective Enforcement Toolkit - aimed at helping councils clamp...
05 December 2018
From: Breaking News
![Crooked letting agent admits taking over £220,000 from clients](/img/default/lat.png)
A former lettings agent in Plymouth has finally admitted taking hundreds of thousands of pounds from tenants and landlords - the...
19 November 2018
From: Breaking News
![New funding for government crackdown on buy to let rogue operators](/img/default/lat.png)
Local authorities across the UK are to get another £2m to crack down on rogue operators in the buy to let...
08 November 2018
From: Breaking News
![Expelled! Two agencies kicked out of TPO for failing to pay awards](/img/default/lat.png)
Two lettings agencies have been expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for failing to pay awards. One is OJ Residentials Limited trading...
05 November 2018
From: Breaking News
![Agency boss admits hundreds of thousands in fraud and theft charges](/img/default/lat.png)
The former owner of a lettings agency has admitted charges of fraud, false accounting and theft involving some hundreds of thousands...
29 October 2018
From: Breaking News
![Tenants to be given access to database of rogue agents and landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
The Guardian says the government is committed to making a datebase of rogue letting agents and landlords available to tenants. The newspaper quotes...
26 October 2018
From: Breaking News
![Shock claim by senior agent of air of criminality in lettings industry](/img/default/lat.png)
One of Scotland’s top lettings agents is warning of “an air of criminality” in the rental industry north of the border. His...
26 September 2018
From: Breaking News
!['Name and shame rip-off agents' demand Trading Standards and NALS](/img/default/lat.png)
Trading Standards departments in London are asking renters to name and shame letting agents who are not complying with the law...
13 September 2018
From: Breaking News
![Which? calls on the public to submit nightmare rental stories](/img/default/lat.png)
Which?, the consumer organisation which this week revealed details of an undercover investigation of 30 viewings of properties marketed by lettings...
18 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
![Council fining 27 rogue agents wins strong backing from ARLA](/img/default/lat.png)
The Association of Residential Letting Agents has heaped praise on a local authority which has fined 27 lettings and managing agents...
11 July 2018
From: Breaking News
![Some agents 'may be tempted to act illegally' says lettings guru](/img/default/lat.png)
Property expert Kate Faulkner says the massive surge in new regulations, legislation and fiscal measures aimed at the private rental sector...
26 June 2018
From: Breaking News
![Agency closes, boss disappears, and thousands owed to clients](/img/default/lat.png)
A regional newspaper claims that a lettings agency has collapsed, its boss has gone to ground, and thousands of pounds are...
18 June 2018
From: Breaking News
![Call for agents to use PropTech to help clean up their act](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading PropTech entrepreneur has renewed his call for letting agents to use more technology to clean up their act when...
05 June 2018
From: Breaking News
![Major milestone as all London boroughs sign up to ‘rogue database’](/img/default/lat.png)
This week marks a major milestone in Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's efforts to crack down on the capital's rogue letting...
23 May 2018
From: Breaking News
![Trading Standards to highlight 'effective enforcement' in fight against rogues](/img/default/lat.png)
Today Trading Standards teams across the country will highlight the work they do to protect landlords and tenants from rogue letting...
22 May 2018
From: Breaking News
![Rogue letting agents hit with thousands of pounds in fines](/img/default/lat.png)
Two rogue letting agents in London have been fined thousands of pounds as part of a council campaign to clean up...
17 May 2018
From: Breaking News
![Agent banned from letting properties after head-butting incident](/img/default/lat.png)
An agent has been banned from letting properties under ‘fit and proper person’ legislation in Scotland, following an incident in which...
08 May 2018
From: Breaking News
![Agents with banning orders: government to release numbers for each area](/img/default/lat.png)
A statement from the government has repeated its determination to clean up the private rental sector through a series of measures,...
09 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![More industry backing for government's crackdown on agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The Property Ombudsman is the latest property industry player to throw its support behind the introduction of mandatory qualifications and a...
04 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![Government reveals letting agents' mandatory qualification and code of conduct](/img/default/lat.png)
The government has this morning - Easter Sunday - announced a crackdown on rogue letting agents in the shape of a...
01 April 2018
From: Breaking News
![Lettings agent fined for placing tenants in his own unsafe properties](/img/default/lat.png)
A Brighton and Hove lettings agent has been fined more than £3,000 for allowing two properties that he owned himself to...
29 March 2018
From: Breaking News
![PropTech boss calls for introduction of ‘rogue tenants’ database](/img/default/lat.png)
The head of a major PropTech company serving the lettings sector says he want to see the introduction of a database...
22 February 2018
From: Breaking News
![Letting agent stole over £350,000 of deposits to fund lavish lifestyle](/img/default/lat.png)
The director of a lettings agency who who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds to spend on holidays and other luxuries...
16 February 2018
From: Breaking News
![Huge rise in thefts of tenants' cash, says campaigning letting agent](/img/default/lat.png)
Crooked landlords and letting agents were convicted of stealing £1,162,037 of tenant’s cash in 2017 – a rise of 14 per...
16 February 2018
From: Breaking News
![Criminal letting agent spared jail after stealing over £7,600 from tenants](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent has been spared jail despite stealing over £7,600 from tenants to subsidise his failing business. Simon Cawley, from Kingsbridge...
29 January 2018
From: Breaking News
![Romans is latest agency to back banning orders on rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
Romans has thrown its weight behind the banning orders being introduced in April which could see rogue letting agents and landlords...
26 January 2018
From: Breaking News
![Letting agent gets £1,000 bill after telling tenant to dump rubbish](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agent has been charged £1,000 after telling a new tenant to dump waste left by a previous occupier into...
15 January 2018
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agents helped to steal £1m from tenants in 2017 - claim](/img/default/lat.png)
Crooked letting agents and landlords have raided close to £1m from tenancy deposit accounts in 2017, new figures show. Campaigning agent Ajay Jagota,...
29 December 2017
From: Breaking News
![Online database of rogue agents 'will save lives' say fire chiefs](/img/default/lat.png)
The new online database identifying rogue letting agents and landlords will save lives according to the London Fire Brigade. We wrote about...
21 December 2017
From: Breaking News
![First London boroughs roll out ‘rogue agents database’](/img/default/lat.png)
The first London boroughs are now rolling out the Greater London Authority’s ‘Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker’ - allowing tenants to...
20 December 2017
From: Breaking News
![Rogues' database and banning orders to come into effect in April](/img/default/lat.png)
A database of rogue letting agents and landlords and new banning orders, first promised in the Housing and Planning Act announced...
04 December 2017
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agents and landlords steal nearly £850,000 - and counting](/img/default/lat.png)
A lettings agency chief who monitors legal action against rogue agencies and landlords says almost £850,000 of deposits have been stolen...
20 October 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
![Clampdown on rogue agents and landlords welcomed by PropTech firm](/img/default/lat.png)
PropTech firm PayProp has welcomed the latest measures to clamp down on rogue elements within the lettings industry - but warns...
11 October 2017
From: Breaking News
![Agent fined £75,000 over rat-infested over-crowded HMO](/img/default/lat.png)
A letting agent named in a case concerning a rat-infested House in Multiple Occupation in Leytonstone, East London, has been fined...
28 September 2017
From: Breaking News
![Crooked agents have stolen £700,000 so far this year says campaigner](/img/default/lat.png)
Crooked letting agents have been convicted of stealing almost £700,000 of tenants’ deposits in the first half of 2017. Campaigning letting agent...
27 July 2017
From: Breaking News
![Property management chief calls for national tenant register](/img/default/lat.png)
The head of a property management company is calling on the government to introduce a tenants' register which would help rogue...
26 June 2017
From: Breaking News
![NALS wants 'rogues database' extended to include more agents](/img/default/lat.png)
The National Approved Lettings Scheme has called for the London Mayor’s new rogue agents’ database to be extended to include those...
28 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Named and shamed - ARLA backs Mayor's rogue agents database](/img/default/lat.png)
Letting agents who have broken the law are set to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan,...
27 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Landlords' group opposes ARLA-approved 'rogue agents register'](/img/default/lat.png)
The Residential Landlords Association has broken ranks with the Association of Residential Letting Agents by opposing an ARLA-backed public database of...
27 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Massive £235,000 bill for agency boss letting out illegal bedsits](/img/default/lat.png)
An east London landlord, who was also director of a letting agency, has been forced to pay out over £235,000 for...
21 April 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
![Anti-deposit campaigner warns of Client Money Protection side-effect](/img/default/lat.png)
A leading letting agent campaigning against rental sector deposits is warning that the industry might be hit with “astronominal” insurance premiums...
10 April 2017
From: Breaking News
![Letting agents in the firing line as new civil penalties come into effect](/img/default/lat.png)
New legislation coming into force today gives local authorities in England tough new powers to crack down on rogue agents and...
06 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
![Letting agency owner ordered to pay £25,000 to victims](/img/default/lat.png)
A convicted Surrey letting agent who used his clients’ money to cover his business debts has been ordered to pay £25,000...
23 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Trade group backs banning orders on rogue agents, landlords](/img/default/lat.png)
A trade body has backed government plans to introduce so-called ‘banning orders’ for rogue letting agents and landlords, but it says...
17 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Tory MP wants action as Trading Standards begin agency probe](/img/default/lat.png)
Conservative MP Oliver Colvile is calling for urgent action following a recent spate of fraud involving rogue letting agents. When approached by...
15 February 2017
From: Breaking News
![Letting agent gets £20,000 in fines over HMO breaches](/img/default/lat.png)
A landlord and letting agency have been fined more than £26,000 after being found guilty of housing offences at two properties...
30 January 2017
From: Breaking News
![Agents hit with fines after failing to abide by new consumer legislation](/img/default/lat.png)
Lettings agents have been issued fines totalling £14,100 by a local authority for failing to comply with consumer rights laws. Officers from...
11 January 2017
From: Breaking News
![Politician urges 'secret shopping' to name and shame rogue agents](/img/default/lat.png)
One of London’s leading politicians has created guidelines to help individuals ‘secret shop’ in a bid to expose what she claims...