Landlords in Norfolk claim that they are owed thousands in unpaid rent while tenant deposits were left unprotected by a local letting agency that has gone bust.

eHomes Limited, located in the market town of Swaffham, has been accused by several landlords of not paying them rent and not securing tenants’ deposits in protection schemes, despite being a legal requirement.

A number of landlords have attempted to contact the firm’s sole shareholder and director, Victoria Steele, but she has not returned messages from them or from news outlets covering the story, including the Eastern Daily Press, which has launched an investigation into eHomes.

The newspaper reports that The Property Ombudsman has ordered eHomes to pay one landlord £10,000, while it also says that the previous firm run by Steele went into liquidation in 2015 owing creditors in the region of £100,000.

Matthew Green, who rented his shop on Station Street, PE37, to eHomes, also used the company to let out a house for him, but said that he had been left without more than £4,000 in rental income.

“I have been chasing since February. Financially I have a lot of mortgage commitments,” said Green.

His tenant’s deposit of £1,038 was also not registered with a deposit scheme for four months, although it is a legal requirement to register a deposit with a government-backed protection schemes within 30 days.

There are also other cases of eHomes failing to register deposits within the required timeframe, while also withholding rent from landlords.

A spokesman for TDS told the press that it is terminating eHomes membership.

He said: “We regularly carry out compliance checks on the companies and individuals who use our services.

“Typically, if we find a landlord or agent to be in contravention of our rules, we will terminate their membership of the scheme.”