Some time last year I was interviewed by Guardian Journalist Sirin Kale, who wrote an excellent piece on cannabis farms and dodgy lettings agents<\/a>, published a couple of weeks back.<\/p>\n Having been in more than one cannabis farm<\/a> in my career and spending my days dealing with criminal activity in the PRS, I read the experiences of the poor property owners with a professional eye and more than a little interest.<\/p>\n Mr Hajaj, whose property was turned into a cannabis farm, told Sirin that \u201cA sharp-suited British Asian man named Shan Miah arrived in a sports car. He was in his late 20s or early 30s, charming and confident. He boasted of his business interests in Dubai. \u201cHe was doing very well for himself,\u201d<\/p>\n And he certainly was doing very well for himself, just not in the way poor Mr Hajaj thought. A sharp suit and a fancy car are a poor basis for making a business decision.\u00a0 Yet one that, sadly, is all too familiar.<\/p>\n When you take out a mortgage, the lending company do extensive checks and demand high levels of proof of income and stability.\u00a0 Yet so often, people place the most expensive thing they own under the control of someone else, without doing similar checks as a mortgage lender.<\/p>\n I often wonder if, in some cases, it\u2019s a sort of British thing.\u00a0 To do with embarrassment and not wanting to cause offence.\u00a0 After all, Shan Miah, the young man in the sharp suit and fancy car (who the article explained was also known as Sean or Roberto) who wrecked Mr Hajaj\u2019s property, was working hard to convey his trustworthiness.\u00a0 It would have been rude to push too much, wouldn\u2019t it? Almost like calling him a liar.<\/p>\n Property owners should be insisting upon extraordinarily high levels of proof of competency and trustworthiness.\u00a0 Professional agents should not only welcome the chance to prove their professionalism and integrity.\u00a0 But also invite rigorous questioning.\u00a0 Whilst I appreciate that young agents learning the business won\u2019t know everything about the legalities the company they represent should be able to answer questions and provide supporting documents.<\/p>\n For a long time, government played with the idea of creating a single standard of competency for letting agents, where qualifications were needed.\u00a0 At one point by all agents and at another point by senior staff in management.\u00a0 But that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n The industry itself has stepped up. Propertymark is a reliable badge created by an industry concerned about the Shan Miah\u2019s of the world tarring them all with the same brush.<\/p>\n Are major high street names more reliable? Probably yes, but even they aren\u2019t immune.\u00a0 I have on numerous occasions, encountered dodgy operators working within generally honest firms.\u00a0 Including agents running their own internal agency without their employer\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n Should I avoid small local independents? I have come across loads of great Indy\u2019s who are more connected with their landlords and tenants than brand names and provide a far more favourable service.\u00a0 However, there are just so many of them these days.\u00a0 And unfortunately, these smaller operations are where the crooks tend to operate.\u00a0 So, a high level of due diligence is needed.<\/p>\n There are 2 mandatory redress schemes for agents to be members of,<\/p>\n And agents can be fined for not being members. The only problem there is that anyone can join, even Shan Miah. There is no competency bar.<\/p>\n Those failing in standards are expelled, but it doesn\u2019t stop them from operating before they get caught out. Also, many crooked operators I encounter say they are in a redress scheme, but when you check, they aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n Tessa asked me to share the checks that my own outfit, Safer Renting, conducts when we are investigating criminal activities and the kinds of things we discover.\u00a0 Hopefully as an object lesson for property owners considering using some form of management agent.<\/p>\n What\u2019s not to like for the property owner not wanting the responsibility of hands-on management? You know the old saying, \u201cIf it looks too good to be true, it probably is\u201d.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying that all guaranteed rent business models are scams\u2026..just that a hell of a lot of them are.<\/p>\n There are big companies who run such models very well, Northwoods and Orchard Shipman spring to mind, but they are large companies with huge cash reserves.\u00a0 They genuinely can guarantee rent if the tenant doesn\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n There may even be insurance products for companies to meet their promise. The question is, \u201cDo they have the necessary reserves to meet the guarantee?\u201d\u00a0 Is that start-up shop in the high street, doing sterling work touting for business and sending the message they are \u2018Doing well for themselves\u2019, actually capable of doing what they claim?<\/p>\n Back to Mr Hajaj mentioned above.\u00a0 The article on the agent says, \u201cBut in November 2022, the rent didn\u2019t arrive as usual. Imperial said it would evict the tenants,\u201d. Well, what happened to the guaranteed rent there then?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the ever present problem I encounter. When the guarantee is actually needed, it often isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n Companies House and other similar websites that provide the same information are a vital place to check.<\/p>\n Join the NRLA<\/a> \u2013 This piece of advice may make Ben Beadle fall off his chair, we don\u2019t always see eye to eye but I do think the NRLA do a brilliant job.\u00a0 And I happen to notice that the criminals tend not The NRLA are not the only landlord\u2019s association, though.\u00a0 There are many smaller local landlord associations, for example, the North West Landlords Association<\/a>, and the Eastern Landlords Association<\/a>. Both have local meetings for their members.\u00a0 There is probably a local association near you \u2013 a search on the internet will find it.<\/p>\n To hammer home my original point, don\u2019t, in your eagerness, fall for the charms of the keen, earnest young man in the too-tight Norman Wisdom suit. Do rigorous checks on him and his company.<\/p>\n Make suspicion your default position. He may look like \u201cHe is doing well for himself\u201d, but he may also just turn out to actually be Norman Wisdom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Ben Reeve Lewis Some time last year I was interviewed by Guardian Journalist Sirin Kale, who wrote an excellent piece on cannabis farms and dodgy lettings agents, published a couple of weeks back. Having been in more than one cannabis farm in my career and spending my days dealing with criminal activity in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[11282,11530,11395,3767,14207,61747,19733,16571,12685,13392],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-146791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-advice","tag-agents","tag-avoid","tag-blog","tag-criminal","tag-incompetent","tag-landlord","tag-landlords","tag-law","tag-letting"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Dodgy](\"https:\/\/www.landlordlawblog.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/iStock-168640378-400x264.jpg\")
By Ben Reeve Lewis<\/em><\/p>\nWhy don\u2019t landlords do proper checks?<\/h2>\n
Letting agents should prove their competency and trustworthiness<\/h2>\n
Reliability?<\/h3>\n
Are they a member of a Redress Scheme?<\/h3>\n
\n
What checks should you carry out?<\/h2>\n
Guaranteed rent<\/h3>\n
Checking online<\/h3>\n
\n
providing information that I didn\u2019t find elsewhere.<\/li>\n
over and a couple of hours playing Sherlock Holmes can save a lot of expensive misery down the line.<\/li>\n
threatened but later called off. Be worried about wobbles.<\/li>\nLocal knowledge<\/h2>\n
to be members. The NRLA hosts regular local events at which you can meet other local landlords and swap gossip and info about local outfits to avoid.<\/p>\nAnd finally<\/h2>\n