Criminals are thought to occupy almost 280,000 UK rental properties with a combined value of nearly £83bn, according to analysis by Ocasa.
With previous research estimating that 5% of the nation’s rental stock is being let to criminals, Ocasa’s analysis of UK market dwelling figures found the number equates to 279,497 properties. The rental platform calculated that, based on the current average UK house price, this would mean a total of £82.7bn worth of UK property is occupied by people who are committing fraud and other crimes.
An Ocasa spokesperson commented: “For landlords, letting agents, and management companies, it can be difficult to say with absolute confidence that they are not unwittingly enabling criminals to occupy their rental properties.”
The company urged letting agents to be vigilant against fake financial documents, identity fraud and illegal subletting. Ocasa also pointed out several ‘red flags’ for illicit activity, such as defaulting on rent and requesting money wire transfers.
“Wire transfers are a common way for criminals to try to defraud landlords and property managers,” the spokesperson explained. “A red flag is when a cheque is issued and given to the landlord for more money than has been requested. The fraudster will then ask for the excess money to be returned to them before the whole cheque bounces, by which time the tenant has made their money and probably disappeared.”
In cases where eviction is necessary, Ocasa emphasised the importance of acting swiftly but staying within the law, following the right protocols and keeping detailed records.
“While it might be galling to have to follow the strict eviction protocols when your tenant themselves is a criminal, it’s important you do,” the spokesperson said. “This means serving them with a Section 8 notice as you would any other rogue tenant. You can then follow this up with a possession order.
“Make a note of the date and time of every phone call or correspondence along with what was said and who said it. Keep track of all efforts you’ve made to reach out for help, and make note of exactly what you think the tenant is doing wrong.”
Well, the wire transfer thing is simple. Don’t refund anything until the cheque has been cashed and cleared. Even if a tenant pays by standing order and doesn’t cancel it when they leave, we still wait for the payment to clear before we send it back by bacs. I remind every tenant, in writing, to cancel their standing order when I receive their notice, and let them know that we can’t do it, and it will automatically be sent to us by their bank. And that we will need to wait for it to clear before we can send it back, and we are not responsible for any charges or fees they get during that time, unless we have deliberately delayed the repayment for several working days (weekends don’t count).
Some people still don’t cancel.
But without being able to access someone’s criminal history, how would we know if we are renting to a criminal? I don’t recall ever seeing that on a reference…
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