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Llandudno landlord back in court – this time for unlicensed properties

A Welsh landlord who rakes in almost £100,000 a year in housing benefit from a £700,000 property portfolio is paying off court fines at just £40 a month.

Mark Thorogood, 50, who calls himself the “pied piper of Llandudno” was fined almost £7,000 by Llandudno Magistrates last week for failing to hold licences for three HMOs.

However, Thorogood successfully obtained a consolidation on outstanding court fines which allows him to pay them off at just £40 per month. He owes the courts at least £12,000 in fines, which will take at least 25 years to clear.

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The properties in Llandudno, which were the subject of court action, and the property listed as his address on court documents, are thought to be worth around £700,000.

Thorogood was banned by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) from being involved with regulated financial services and fined more than £104,000 in 2010. Trading as Property Park Mortgages, he knowingly submitted fraudulent mortgage applications for himself and his wife, inflating his income from £22,950 to £120,000 and her income from £8,832 to £95,000.

Despite pleading not guilty to the latest breaches he was fined £5,000, ordered to pay legal costs of £1,500, investigative costs of £234 and a victim surcharge of £125.

According to the Daily Post, Thorogood previously admitted not paying the FSA fine, which he claims is “unjust”.

He has previously protested his innocence to the Daily Post, saying: “I have been victimised. I am an entrepreneur and I will take a few calculated risks.

“I have housed more people than you can imagine. I am the pied piper of Llandudno and I had tenants chasing me asking for somewhere to live.”

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