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NLA warning about pre-payment meter scam

The NLA (National Landlords Association) is advising landlords with properties that have pre-payment utility meters to warn their tenants about a scam doing the rounds. The fraud involves energy pre-pay meters that are topped up using Paypoint or Payzone outlets. Fraudsters are going door to door looking for residents with pre-pay meters for gas and electricity and offering them fake... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on September 7th, 2011 in Tenant Scams, Tips for New Landlords

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Fake landlord escapes jail. Real landlord out of pocket?

Former prisoner and convicted criminal John Gilbert, has been found guilty of posing as a fake landlord and duping a tenant out of £150. Gilbert pleaded guilty to the charges of fraud. Magistrates in Scarborough heard that Gilbert put an advert in a Victoria Street newsagent in the town offering the one-bed flat on Esplanade Gardens for £75 a week. A man agreed to rent the flat. Rent of £75... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on May 5th, 2011 in Landlord Legislation, Tenant Scams, Tips for New Landlords

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Ask Upad: My tenant has left me with unpaid utility bills. What should I do?

Q: I’m furious because I’ve just discovered that a tenant who left a few months ago has left without paying the gas and electricity bills. I’ve already released the deposit and the total unpaid bills add up to £200. I don’t know what to do and am worried that this will affect the credit worthiness of the property and put off future tenants. I have a forwarding address but nothing else.... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on December 8th, 2010 in Ask Upad, Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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Tenant jailed for stealing landlord’s indentity

A fraudster has been jailed by Plymouth Crown Court after stealing his landlord’s identity and using it to take out credit cards and loans. Taylor confessed to five different charges of frauds including registering credit cards with Egg and Capital One, opening an account with Littlewoods, buying a laptop from Argos and also taking a loan from PayDay Express. In total, he ran up more than... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on October 8th, 2010 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams, Tips for New Landlords

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Cannabis Factories. Are you at risk?

Hamilton Fraser provides best practice guidance for landlords Police forces across the country have reported a rising number of rented properties being used to grow cannabis. Purely from Hamilton Fraser’s experience, claims for damage caused by unscrupulous tenants can range from a few thousand pounds to total losses from resultant fire. To help prevent your rental property from being... Read more

Posted by Sue @ Upad on September 8th, 2010 in Landlord Insurance, Property Management, Tenant Scams

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Landlord nightmares: my tenant was running a cannabis farm.

We spoke to Bill, a private landlord, about his experience dealing with a dealer. I wish I’d trusted my instincts in the first place with this tenant. I let several flats in a converted Victorian house and there was something about him that I didn’t completely trust but his references were good so I let him one of my flats. Almost from day one, odd things started happening. One of my... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on August 20th, 2010 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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Are your tenants scuppering a sale?

One rent void that landlords want to avoid is that between putting a property on the market and selling it. During this period, usually after some negotiation with the tenants, you can have buyers viewing your rented property. Obviously the tenants will have to move out before the sale completes, but many tenants are happy to oblige if it means putting off moving for a few more months. But are... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on July 27th, 2010 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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Sussex Police warn of “bogus landlords” in Brighton

Sussex Police are warning flat-hunters to beware of bogus landlords in Brighton.We dealt with a similar case this week at Upad, thanks to our eagle-eyed Client Services Manager, Zara who spotted a suspicious ad. It's hard to know how widespread these scams are, but this news suggests it's far from being a one-off. In the past month, Sussex police have received ten reports of fraudsters posing... Read more

Posted by Dan @ Upad on July 20th, 2010 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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Caught you!

Normally Monday morning at Upad Towers is about catching up with email and what we did at the weekend, and lots of coffee. But today, we caught an attempted scammer as well. All of Upad’s properties are checked by hand before they’re advertised, primarily to ensure they fit in with the requirements of the sites we list on, but also to ensure that nothing untoward gets listed. And this... Read more

Posted by Sue @ Upad on July 12th, 2010 in Property Management, Tenant Scams, Upad

A Tenant’s Guide to Scams (and how to avoid them)

The RLA's blog this week talks about yet another instance of the 'Western Union scam' that leaves disappointed tenants with neither place to live nor deposit money. The scam works like this: tenant spots ad for attractively priced property and contacts landlord landlord responds favourably, but says either they've been messed about by tenants before, or they're abroad, or they're in... Read more

Posted by Sue @ Upad on February 18th, 2010 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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OFT launches Scams Awareness Month

The Office of Fair Trading is launching a "Scamnesty" to help combat mass-marketed fraud and scams aiming to dupe people into parting with cash. More than 4 million Britons admit to having responded to a scam sent via email, letter or text - and a third of them say they have lost money. Email is the most common way for scammers to contact potential victims - 73% of those surveyed say they'd... Read more

Posted by Sue @ Upad on February 1st, 2010 in Landlord Legislation, Legal, Tenant Scams

Don’t get ripped off renting!

It all seems so plausible. The landlord has been messed about before by people who say they're going to rent, and then don't have the money. Can you prove to them that you have the cash? Sure, you say – the flat looks lovely, the rent is a bargain, and you're anxious to secure the deal. Look, says the landlord, do this for me: obviously I'm not going to take any money from you until we've... Read more

Posted by Sue @ Upad on December 30th, 2009 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

Property fraudsters target students and tourists

London student Bethan Moore avoided becoming the latest victim of a scam that's ripping off renters in the capital, thanks to her own quick-wittedness and a little help from upad. Bethan told The Observer that she'd spotted a house in Clapham advertised at half the normal price for the area. She said, "It all sounded fine at first." She exchanged emails with the landlord, and he confirmed... Read more

Posted by James @ Upad on September 28th, 2009 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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Accommodation fraud targets students

Police are warning students to be on their guard against fraudsters advertising bargain rental accommodation that does not actually exist. Using free listings websites, they trick people, especially students, into paying large deposits up front or revealing their bank details. Victims of the scam are told by the “landlord” that the property can only be viewed if they provide financial... Read more

Posted by James @ Upad on September 7th, 2009 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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Beware the conmen

As reported on the BBC’s Newsbeat today, there has been a rise in the number of people ‘scammed’ by criminals when looking for property.  Trading Standards has said that an increasing number of would-be tenants are becoming victims of fraud. I have no doubt about this. However, it then goes on to say that that websites like Gumtree and Craigslist aren't doing enough to protect... Read more

Posted by James @ Upad on June 24th, 2009 in Property Rental, Tenant Scams

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