Rogue letting agents ripping off tenants according to the BBC

A BBC investigation is said to have discovered widespread evidence of letting agents ripping off tenants. It accuses rogue agents of ‘fraudulently taking thousands of pounds from tenants as a holding fee, not letting them move in and keeping the money’.

BBC’s Newsbeat on Radio 1 reported that a Freedom of Information request found that 71 of the 200 trading standards teams in England had received at least one complaint about this issue. It also found that the Trading Standards Institute said that there could be many more victims due to the way in which information was recorded.

The BBC’s Freedom of Information request asked how many complaints had been seen about letting agents charging holding deposits or other admin fees, but not letting prospective tenants move in and refusing to give them their money back.

It received 113 responses. However, no action was taken in many cases either by Trading Standards or by police as it was considered a ‘civil matter’.

Clearly, rogue letting agents who act in this way tarnish the reputation of the whole industry. That’s why Walton & Allen maintain the highest standards of probity, professionalism and integrity in all dealings with tenants.

To give added peace of mind and consumer protection, all rental deposits are held in a Tenancy Deposit scheme in accordance with the Housing Act 2004.

The scheme used by Walton and Allen is The Deposit Protection Service, which is currently safeguarding over one million tenancy deposits. The Terms and Conditions and Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules governing the protection of any tenancy deposit can be found at www.depositprotection.com