A man who supplied fake EPCs to estate agents has been ordered by a court to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
Neil Mackie, 48, of Gloucester, supplied a number of EPCs estate agents for houses being sold across Gloucestershire between March and May 2013, even though his membership of the approval body – Elmhurst – had been terminated.
As a result, several agents inadvertently sold houses with phoney EPCs.
All homes for sale and rent must, by law, have a valid EPC.
Mackie, who admitted four charges of fraud and forgery at Cheltenham Magistrates Court, was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,250 plus a £60 victim surcharge.
Eddie Coventry, Gloucestershire County Council Head of Trading Standards, said: “Energy Performance Certificates provide important information to house buyers and tenants concerning the potential energy costs of their new home. They also identify measures which people can take to reduce their energy bills.
“It is likely that people will take more notice of the information they contain as energy prices rise, therefore it is important they have confidence that the EPC they receive is accurate and produced to a consistent standard.”
Here is the Gloucester Citizen report.
Shame he didn't hook up with Sarah Beeney, she could do with some at the moment apparently!
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community service to too light a sentence for such a crime, although the EPC element does not bother me too much, it is the lies and deception and false representation
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Well presumably if he WAS a member of the body then he was at some stage qualified to issue these largely pointless documents. So hardly a fraud with much consequence.
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