Rogue agents targeted by BBC Watchdog

Letting agents once again came under fire tonight this time in the spotlight of BBC1’s Watchdog, which highlighted a more high profile case than normal, that of the actor Nigel Havers who found himself a victim of a Manchester letting agents, who made him pay 6 months money up front then promptly told him at month 5 his landlord had sold his flat and he had to move out.

Now you and me both know that this practice goes on and we know that is it not legal nor is it ethical, but if tenants are not aware of their rights and do not know where to turn for advice, stories like this will continue to make media headlines.

The piece emphasised that even though Estate agents are legally required to be a member of a redress scheme since 2008, letting agents to date still do not have to be a member of any governing body nor do they need to belong to any ombudsman, although it is recommended.

The piece went onto show how some agents ‘top up’ their income by forcing tenants to use the agents energy supplier, writing terms into the tenancy agreement that would have tenants believe they have no right to change supplier and find the best tariff for their usage.

More worrying is that the agents named and shamed in the story were not dodgy backstreet agents, they were High street leading names, who should be monitored by the bodies that claim to be at the height of regulating the agents that pay to join them

I find it mind boggling and extremely frustrating that the powers that be still allow this to happen, even after hundreds of thousands of tenants and landlords alike are ripped off or conned daily by rogue agents, yet ministers still drag their heels umming and ahhing as to whether it’s a good idea.

The irony of this watchdog article is that it was aired during SafeAgent week…. Something that is highly publicised within the industry yet the people that it needs to reach, the general public, remain totally unaware of its existence or what it stands for.

Landlords to be fined for housing illegal immigrants

Earlier today the Queens speech will take place in Parliament, part of this speech will focus on the Immigration Bill which the coalition government hopes will reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the country, however in true Cameron style he has decided to pass the buck to anyone and everyone following repeated failures of UK Border Control.

Landlords have been targeted once again in the fight against immigration with rulings coming into force today that see landlords being made fully responsible for checking the immigration status of potential tenants, including verifying passports and immigration visas.

The first foreseeable problem here is that most of the 2million buy-to-let landlord in the UK would not know what a forged passport or visa would look like, secondly if copies of these documents are taken by landlords are they then expected to registered under one of the data protection schemes and be legally obliged to keep documents for 6 years.

With the bill threatening hefty fines, running into thousands of pounds for landlord who fail to check immigration status, the big question will be who is to blame if tenants documents turn out to he forged. If a landlord uses an agent to find a tenant will the onus then be on the agent to check immigration status and the landlords responsibility removed.

As always when the governments targets the rental sector not all the boxes are ticked before laws are passed and brought into force, the burning question has to be who and how will this new law be policed, currently there is no national register for landlord nor is there a standalone regulating body for lettings agents, so how will the government be able to check that every rental property only houses a legal occupant.

Currently the government can not even track the number of rogue agents and landlord who are not protecting deposits a law that came into force over 6 years ago and with so many immigrants entering the UK under the radar already, it seems as though Mr Cameron is doing his best to ensure he will not be to blame should this proposed regulation not work as planned, after all how can we blame a government who ensured it would be landlords responsibility to carry out the checks, most landlords are in their early years of retirement and will not be bothered with checking tenants so thoroughly.

What is needed is a national regulation of letting agents and a legal requirement to register every home for rent in the UK only then can the authorities begin to tackle the mountain of issues that trouble the sector of the industry.