A court order has been served on a London letting agent after tenants allegedly complained that deposits were not being being repaid and that some rent paid was not being passed on to landlords.
Islington Trading Standards has been granted the order against David Philips Estate Agents in Crouch Hill, forcing it to put tenants’ deposits in a recognised Tenancy Deposit Scheme and to return the money within a “reasonable time” after tenancies end.
David Philip Copestake, director of the company DP Homes Ltd, of 12 Crouch Hill, did not attend the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The order says that he must pass on rent to landlords and any breach of the order would be classed as contempt of court and could lead to jail or an unlimited fine, according to a report in the Islington Tribune.
“More and more Islington residents are renting privately and with so many people being desperate to find a flat, tenants can be exploited by unscrupulous letting agents. We will use the powers we have to make sure agents behave the right way” says Islington’s housing chief councillor James Murray.
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Comments
Hugh - Estate Agents & Letting Agents have been wanting this since the 1960s' - It's still not happened yet and probably won't happen !!
Why ? - Nobody knows !!
The sooner all estate agents are required by law to be registered and regulated the better. THen dodgy agents can be banned from ripping-off clients.