Two landlords have spoken out about their losses and treatment from a lettings agency which has collapsed.
Last month we reported that the Homepoint agency – with branches in Wolverhampton, Stourbridge, Walsall and Birmingham – owed £118,145 to tenants who lodged deposits with the company and £459,553 in rent collected from tenants but not passed to landlords.
A letter to creditors sent at the time by insolvency consultancy Moore says that Homepoint, run by Ajit Singh Pooni, owed money to 328 creditors including a large number of tenants who had submitted deposits for properties they were renting.
Now two landlords have spoken with Midlands newspaper the Express & Star – which broke the original story – who claim they are also owed money, but were not informed about Homepoint’s demise and are not included on a list of creditors.
Sucha Singh Bhatti, who owns a house converted into three flats in Wolverhampton, says he is owed £2,000 in rent.
“I’m not a wealthy man, I’m 70 years old, I only bought the properties because my pension wasn’t very good, and I thought it would help fund my retirement” he tells the paper.
Linga Green, who owns rental properties in Brierley Hill and Lye, says she is owed £2,500 in unpaid rent.
Major creditors previously identified include HM Revenue & Customs which is owed £72,078 in unpaid VAT, and Lloyds Bank which is owed £160,347, including a £50,000 loan through the government’s Bounce Back scheme.
Dudley council’s trading standards department is investigating the collapse of the company.
