3rd September 2016
A lady offered the asking rent on a new build two bedroom flat we had put on the market to let, on behalf of a landlord. She passed referencing and she even met with the landlord and he commented how nice she was and such a perfect fit for the property so much so he did not want us to manage the property but only to provide a tenant introduction service.
I endeavored to persuade the landlord to take up our full management service whereby we collect the rent and conduct property inspections but he had his mind set.
This means after the introduction everything from that point onwards is between the tenant and the landlord.
The old saying that no news is good news is not always best as 8-9 months into the tenancy the landlord called me and asked if the police had been in touch with me!??
He then went on to inform me of the nightmare that he had been living recently which started with a complaint from the property’s neighbor regarding loud noise/music coming from the property in the early hours which got worse with time, until eventually the neighbor called the police as she was concerned that there was lots of comings and goings of men at all hours and she was worried that the house might be being used as a brothel. To conclude the landlord was arrested on suspicion under the Proceeds of Crime Act as the police had been monitoring the property. He was then questioned and cautioned.
It transpired that they had arrested the tenant as she was running the property as a cathouse, when she was arrested she informed the police that the landlord had given permission for her do this!! The tenant was charged and faced prison time with deportation after the sentence had been served, the landlord had his arrest quashed as there was no proof either way that he was aware of the situation.
- Cost of full management for this tenancy term – £1387.50
- Cost of introduction only service – £777.00
- Cost of replacement beds – £970.00
- Cost of solicitor – £££££££
- Cost of being cheap with your most valuable asset – Risk of prosecution
One thing to remember is that it does not matter if you are right or wrong as this won’t protect you, it is what can be proved in a court of law! In this situation the alarm would have been raised earlier if inspections had been conducted and if the cash rental payments had been questioned. Moral of the story: don’t be cheap with your most valuable asset and contact me today.
Richard Bond
Lettings Manager
