Archive

Consumer organisation Which? claims there are some 1,000 reports of rental fraud scams a month at this time of year. It says...

An analysis of over 600,000 tenancy applications has found that fraudulent applications rose by 140% last year.  The analysis, carried out by...

PropTech platform Goodlord has launched a new referencing service for letting agents, offering what it calls ”a carefully curated balance of...

A wealthy landlord who set up a fake lettings agency in Hull has been jailed for 11 years for allowing ‘ghost tenants’ to...

An organised crime group involved in producing and distributing an estimated £2.4m of cannabis has been found to have e used...

The Housing Ombudsman - currently active in the social housing sector but tipped to take a wider role involving private renting...

Propertymark has set out its pro-agency position on a range of issues contained in the Renters Reform Bill, currently trundling through...

The classified ad website Gumtree is issuing an alert about what it claims is the growing threat of rental fraud. It says...

New figures suggest soaring numbers of tenants are at risk from criminals taking advantage of the tough rental market. Scammers place fake...

A fraudster lettings agent must repay £122,922.68 to her old firm within three months - or face yet more time in...

PropTech supplier Goodlord has announced a partnership with an identity verification technology service which would allow agents to conduct digital Right...

Platforms like Facebook are infiltrated by fake review factories, despite the imminent publication of a new Bill which will look to make...

A lettings agency has been accused of falsely claiming deposits were being held in a deposit protection scheme and other related...

A lettings agency maintenance manager stole almost £100,000 from her company - but has escaped prison. Farida Mughal was working at the...

Lettings agencies which rely on manual means of verification are risking repetitional damage caused by anti-money laundering regulations, a digital compliance...

Over half of all fraudulent tenancy applications involve fake or doctored pay slips, a PropTech firm claims. Goodlord analysed a sample size...

Short lets platform Airbnb - increasingly used by landlords acting as hosts - has issued a warning to consumer users about...

Attempted fraud in the letting sector has risen sharply over the past two years, it’s been claimed. Tenant reference provider Homeppl claims...

A landlord has pleaded guilty to four offences which involved the creation of fake letting agencies in order to help him...

A lettings platform claims that as many as one in 20 rental properties may be let to criminals - that’s some...

Lettings Hub says there were 91,593 cases of tenant application fraud in 2021 alone, with the most common form of fraud...

Propertymark has made an uncharacteristically strong attack on the campaigning charity Shelter for its portrayal of letting agents. Ahead of yesterday’s Queen’s...

Campaigning charity Shelter is accusing some letting agents of “cutting corners” and has produced a provocative and satirical video showing a...

A PropTech provider has launched a renter guarantor service after claiming there’s been a 10-fold rise in tenancy fraud in the...

In this tips piece, Blake Richmond, managing director of referencing at Goodlord, sets out how agents can combat fraud in the lettings process.  Over...

A fake lettings operation has been uncovered by a leading legitimate agency - and now the National Trading Standards Estate and...

A scam in one city has reportedly seen scores of individuals robbed of thousands of pounds as short lets have been...

Propertymark is alerting agents to ever-more sophisticated fraudulent documents being used in the private rental sector. The organisation recently requested agents to...

Propertymark wants agents to come forward with examples of fraudulent tenancy applications - a growing problem in the rental sector. A statement...

A lettings agent has told the BBC that he has spotted illegal rental scams using online platforms, but the police have...

The Citizens Advice consumer charity is warning that fake investment scams are amongst the fraudulent activity that’s on the rise across...

An anti-money laundering PropTech consultancy claims agents are in serious danger of non-compliance with new regulations, unless they ditch paper documents and...

There’s been a huge 263 per cent increase in the value of fraudulent tenant applications in just three months, it’s been...

Tenant referencing. It’s a necessary evil.  Although most tenants are responsible and pay their rent on time, broke swindlers with dubious...

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team is appealing to the industry to be eagle-eyed for scams. This follows the...

With the Government announcement this week of another national lockdown across England amid the surging coronavirus infections, it once again puts...

A newspaper claims a lettings agency is battling allegations of overcharging customers and using fake companies to carry out maintenance work. The Daily Record...

It’s been an unexpected year for the property market, shaped by the effects of the pandemic. We didn’t quite anticipate the...

A fake lettings agent has been caught trying to cheat prospective tenants out of £1,500 which she claimed was a deposit...

One of the highest profile figures in the rental sector says rogue letting agents should be named and shamed as a...

A new report demands that online rental platforms and portals allowing direct advertising by clients do more to deter fake landlords...

A series of fake scams allegedly advertising apartments to rent have appeared on Zoopla and other property websites. The Edinburgh Live news...

Airbnb is doing a U-turn with its global leader pledging to slash the number of professional landlords using the platform and...

Which? is warning prospective renters to beware scam lettings agencies and scam landlords following a case where £5,600 was conned out...

A new web platform is launching encouraging reviews of landlords - but it claims not to be another opportunity for tenants...

Have you heard of Psych? No, me neither - but that’s our loss according to the London team of Auction House.  The...

The Deposit Protection Scheme is warning of a possible online scam affecting agents, landlords and tenants A statement on the DPS website...

A landlord has been ordered to pay nearly £6,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to harassing and financially exploiting...

There was a surge in the number of fake lettings inventories submitted last year, allowing tenants to be conned out of...

A north of England letting agent who conned home owners out of thousands of pounds has been ordered to pay it back...

October 31, known as All Hallows' Eve, is now less than three weeks away. While the government continues with its botched Brexit...

A council tenant has been fined £100,000 and evicted because he let out his flat via Airbnb.  The Times reports that Toby...

The number of fake or fraudulent rental applications is on the rise, with landlords and letting agents being fooled by a...

Prospective tenants are being warned about a fraud scam that cons people into paying an advance fee to rent a property. The...

A TV show on Channel 5 this evening may well serve as a warning to letting agents about the dangers of...

A fake agent who made thousands from letting out rooms that didn’t exist has been arrested - a month after being...

One of the industry’s leading trade bodies wants the government to halt the Right To Rent programme after evidence shows some...

You may think there are enough horror stories going around the agency industry and Britain as a whole right now -...

The BBC says Right To Rent legislation is fuelling a burgeoning market in fake IDs - in some cases creating access...

An agency staff member has received a suspended prison sentence after stealing £11,500 in unclaimed deposits from a branch of Connells.   Amy...

The vast majority of those conducting Right To Rent checks are unable to identify a fake passport if it is presented...

It seems prop-tech is exploding at a scary rate, and the latest brands are all trying to grab our attention by...

A survey of 1,000 tenants and landlords has provided evidence of what many agents already know - that the growing complexity...

Annoying isn’t it. You take on a stunning property, agree a compelling asking price and your Vendor is desperate to get the...

A leading personal finance journalist - and a former editor of Landlord Today - has used the columns of right wing...

Three men have received prison sentences of up to 28 months after a nationwide lettings scam was unearthed by trading standards...

The key lies in improving your customer experience through technology For Agents, the tremendous growth in online estate agents highlights a strong...

The Thames Valley Police says it wants to speak to a man in connection with an investigation in which a number of...

Our latest infographic shows figures of how the majority of deposits are repaid at the end of tenancy and goes into...

A man who posed as a letting agent to swindle landlords and tenants has been jailed for just over two years.   Legal...

A 24-year-old from Luton has been jailed after being found guilty of six counts of fraud in relation to obtaining properties...

A trio of criminals have been jailed for 18 years after using the cover of a lettings agency to allow them...

Lettings companies and an organised group of criminals described as a “gang of chancers” have been hit with fines and costs...

Andrews Property Group says it welcomes the sentence imposed on one of its branch managers after a long-running court case involving...

The internet classified listings service Gumtree will meet with the Residential Landlords Association to discuss scams in which fraudsters posing as...

An industry body has asked classified listings online service Gumtree to issue its users clear warnings about possible scams involving fake...

A landlord has to pay over £16,500 after being found guilty of failing to licence her ex-council flat with the local...

The Mirror has exposed what it believes is a scam letting agency website attempting to get would-be renters to part with...

New student tenants have been urged to be vigilent and not fall victim to fake online letting agents and landlords. The National...

Agency review site raterAgent has teamed up with lettings industry supplier Fixflo to launch a letting agent of the month award.  Any...

The rising phenomenon of agent-rating and review websites is a topic that seems to have caused considerable division and controversy among...

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog! Every month I’ll be giving you an insight into the varied, exciting and...

"Stop right there. Hands above your head. Don't move. Mavis, dial 999." Mr D Smith (MARLA, NFoPP) removes his Glock 19...

A former Andrews letting agent and his ex-girlfriend are reported to have pleaded guilty to forging tenancy applications for properties which...