An unscrupulous letting agency has been issued with penalty notices worth £3,000 for flouting the rules.
After receiving several complaints about 4Property UK Ltd, formerly based at Salmon Fields, Royton, Oldham Council’s Trading Standards department launched an investigation into the company and found that the agency was not a member of one of the redress schemes – a legal requirement since 2014.
David Walters, 4Property UK Ltd’s director, had been expelled from the Property Redress Scheme for a wide range of issues, including poor service and not passing on rents that had been paid by tenants.
Earlier this year, a county court ordered Walters to pay more than £20,000 to Amy Trumpeter for pocketing her rent and leaving her house in Oldham with furniture missing and its roof fallen in when he failed to carry out repairs.
It is feared that Trumpeter is one of a number of landlords to have fallen victim to the rogue agent.
Despite being expelled from the PRS, Walters continued to trade illegally as a letting agent without being a member of a redress scheme.
The council served Notices of Intent in July 2020 and April 2021 that a penalty notice would be issued.
Walters was given a chance to submit representations as to why he believes the company does not need to be a member of a redress scheme.
He did not respond and therefore final notices were served in September 2020 and June 2021 giving him the option of either paying the penalties or appealing to the First Tier Tribunal, a civil court.
After failing to respond Walters was issued with three penalty notices of £1,000 each, which must be paid to the council. The company is now based at 4PropertyUK Ltd, Lordship Lane, London.
Cllr Amanda Chadderton, deputy leader of Oldham Council and cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, said: “The vast majority of local lettings agents operate within the law and are signed up to a redress scheme.
“This allows tenants and landlords to get and independent and fair adjudication if they have a complaint.
“This case shows the council will act when letting and property management agents fail to register with an approved redress scheme.
“We will always try to work with agents and help them, but legal action will be taken where they fail to adhere to legal requirements.”
It’s because of the severe lack of action by regulators that scum like this get away with so much. A paltry £3,000 penalty? Is that it?
Are they a member of a CMP scheme (unlikely as they need to be a member of a redress scheme): £5,000 for not advertising it, then £30,000 for not being a member… in 30 seconds I’ve increased the financial penalty from £3,000 to £35,000 by using existing rules.
Am I missing something basic here or were Trading Standards just dumb? Why not apply to disqualify this “gentleman” from being a director as well?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register