Following on from Fridays story...landlords, beware that there are agents out there STILL committing fraud

An agent who failed to protect tenants’ deposits has pleaded guilty in a long-running saga. Helen Gregory, of Chesterfield, was charged on three counts of fraud in July last year and appeared before magistrates in August.

She has now admitted three charges, relating to each of three companies, of engaging in unfair commercial practices, in a prosecution brought by Trading Standards. The charges related to three businesses in Matlock and Chesterfield, Derbyshire: Beechwood Lettings, Beechwood Property Portfolio, and Letzlet. Between them, the charges relate to a time period spanning April 1, 2007, and October 2012.

 

The local Matlock Mercury (link below) specifically cites the Deposit Protection Service, with earlier stories saying that money had never been paid in. Gregory, who had earlier pleaded not guilty to the three charges of fraud, will be sentenced on September 15.

 http://www.matlockmercury.co.uk/news/local/matlock-estate-agent-admits-shame-1-6783372


In February 2012, the Property Ombudsman expelled Beechwood after it failed to pay an award made against it, and had delayed paying rent into a complainant landlord’s account on 12 occasions over a period of 19 months. A month later, the TPO said Beechwood Property Portfolio was illegally displaying the TPO logos for both sales and lettings, despite not belonging to a redress scheme. The firm was continuing to sell homes.

TPO had earlier delayed the expulsion of Letzlet, trading as Beechwood Lettings, while the complainant landlord was helped to obtain a county court judgment of £2,176.









and also....................









An estate agent who handed himself over to police admitting to a £180,000 fraud during the housing market crash, has been spared jail. Paul Stephen Onslow, 45, traded as Stephen Paul Estate Agents in Harlow, Essex. He has been given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years, a six-month electronically tagged curfew which means he must stay at home between 9pm and 6am, and 250 hours of unpaid work.

His sentencing follows a guilty plea at Chelmsford Crown Court to one offence of fraudulently abusing his position as the proprietor of an estate agency business between April 2008 and April 2013 by using £43,736 of client money. Judge Christopher Ball said that Onslow, of previously good character, had avoided jail because he had walked into Harlow police station to give himself up.

In mitigation, Robert James said that not one landlord or tenant had lodged any complaint, and that no one was aware of the fraud until Onslow confessed.

The court heard that the charge related to 14 landlords. However, Onslow had confessed that the total was almost twice as much, at £180,000. He had used the money, robbing Peter to pay Paul, while trying to trade out of financial difficulties.

 

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Hoddesdon-estate-agent-avoids-jail-180-000-fraud/story-22718953-detail/story.html


So, as a landlord or investor, is it more important that you save maybe £8-16 per month on your management fees, or would you rather be fully protected with an ARLA licenced agent with full Client Money Protection and who abides by industry codes of conduct. For just such peace of mind, please pop along to our offices here in Stony Stratford at any time to see just how we work in your best interests.