TV clash between rogue agent and landlord owed £20,000

The latest episode of Channel 5’s Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords programme will tonight show how a rogue letting agent in a showdown with the landlord to which he allegedly owes £20,000.

Margaret Wilson owns two rental properties in Oxfordshire. Two years ago she handed them over to letting agent Carl Afilaka of Christopher Stanley Lettings Ltd of Bicester, Oxfordshire. 

Things went well for the first year but then 12 months ago, despite the tenants regularly paying the rent to the agent, Afilaka reportedly stopped paying the landlord, who is now out of pocket to the tune of £20,000.

The programme has checked AllAgents’ review site to discover that Wilson is not the first person to be defrauded by the agent, with claims of deposits not registered with a tenancy deposit scheme, not returning deposits, non-payment to contractors and violent behaviour.

The programme shows the victim using Landlord Action’s debt recovery department  which facilitates the face-to-face confrontation between the agent and the landlord.

Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action says this is not a rare problem. “For a number of years, our debt recovery department has been taking legal action for landlords against rogue agents that withhold rent owed to landlords for their own business and cash flow purposes. It infuriates me that any agent is able to get away with this whilst causing so much distress to a landlord.  It can often discourage them from using a good reputable letting agents in the future” says Shamplina.

The programme is on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm.