• Home
  • About
  • Clinic
  • Training
  • Tenants
  • Landlord Law

The Landlord Law Blog

From landlord and tenant lawyer Tessa Shepperson

  • Home
  • Posts
  • News & comment
  • Cases
  • Tenants
    • The Renters Guide Website
    • 15 Places for tenant help
  • Clinic
  • Series
    • Analysis
    • should law and justice be free
    • HMO Basics
    • Tenancy Agreements 33 days
    • Airbnb
    • Grounds for Eviction
    • Tips

Ten reliable tips to help you defeat the scammers

January 20, 2021 by Tessa Shepperson

Scam AlertTwo things are always with us they say – death and taxes.  To that, we should add criminals and scammers out to cheat you of your money and your property.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has made things easier for the scammers as we tend to avoid meeting people and visiting properties to protect ourselves against infection. 

Here are some tips to help you – five for landlords and five for tenants:

Tips for Landlords

1 Never let anyone take away the keys

Because they could get them copied and then they will have access to your property!  The only time you should hand over keys is after a tenant has signed their tenancy agreement and paid the initial rent and deposit money.

2 Never pay out against a cheque until it has cleared. 

What can happen (with a scammer) is that the cheque will never clear and you will be out of pocket.

3 Always check applicants VERY carefully

Remember that con men are very persuasive – that’s their job!  So make sure you check them out thoroughly, get a credit check done and follow up all references.  You also need to be VERY careful about applicants who offer to pay large sums of cash in advance – that is the classic sign of someone who wants to rent your property for criminal purposes, eg to use as a cannabis farm.

4 Make sure you have protected your property at the Land Registry

For example, ensure that any applications to sell or mortgage the property get sent to your address rather than the rented property!  Otherwise it is all too easy for your tenants to take control.  Find out more here.

5. Set up a Google Alert for the address

You should then be notified if your address is being advertised somewhere without your knowledge or permission.  Find out how to set up a google alert here.  

Tips for Tenants

1 Be VERY careful before you pay over any money

Note that it is not unknown for scammers to advertise rented properties that they do not own, or which sometimes do not even exist, to take rent and deposit upfront and then disappear leaving the prospective tenant to find out their error.  Some tenants have lost a lot of money this way.  Students are sometimes targeted.

2 Use agents regulated by ARLA or RICS  if possible

These are, for the most part, trustworthy organisations and you are unlikely to experience any issues.  If you do, the regulator will normally have a complaints process.  But check the agent’s membership as criminals sometimes pretend to be members when they are not.  There are a lot of criminal agencies around.

3 If you are renting from a landlord direct

Try to use a landlord who is a member of an accreditation service (you can usually check membership) or if you are a student, a landlord recommended by your college or university accommodation office.  Be particularly wary about answering adverts on social media.

4 Do not pay any money in respect of a property you have not visited personally

Particularly if there is no way to check the credentials of the landlord or agent.  Mind you, being shown round a property is not a complete protection as the scammer could have obtained the keys without the property owner’s consent.  However, at least you can be sure that the property does actually exist.   

5 Never agree to wire funds to a money transfer service

This is a classic rip off.  You are asked to wire money to a friend or relative ‘as a sign of good faith’.  The ‘landlord’ will then ask for a receipt, withdraw the money and disappear.  This scam is particularly associated with the transfer service Western Union.

If you are ripped off

Sadly even if you follow all the advice above, you may find that a scammer has been too clever for you and that you have lost money.  If this happens:

  • Report the matter to the Police.  They may not be very interested (the Police tend not to take housing issues seriously) but at least there will be a record of the problem
  • If the advert was on a platform such as Rightmove or  SpareRoom – TELL THEM.  The last thing a respectable platform wants is dodgy adverts on their site.  Even though you have lost money this may help protect others.

But if you are vigilant and double-check everything you should be all right.

If you have any stories of being ripped off or scams you want to share to warn others – please post a comment below.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: News and comment Tagged With: scams

Scroll down for the comments

IMPORTANT: Please check the date of the post above - remember, if it is an old post, the law may have changed since it was written.

You should always get independent legal advice before taking any action.

Notes on comments:

For personal landlord and tenant related problems, please use our >> Blog Clinic.
Note that we do not publish all comments, please >> click here to read our terms of use and comments policy. Comments close after three months.

Keep up with the news on Landlord Law blog!

To get posts sent direct to your email in box click here

About Tessa Shepperson

Tessa is a specialist landlord & tenant solicitor and the creator of this site! She is a director of Landlord Law Services which now hosts Landlord Law and other services for landlords and property professionals.

« Landlord Law Blog Roundup from 7th December
Tessa Shepperson Newsround #179 »

“Interesting posts on residential landlord & tenant law and practice - in England & Wales UK”

Subscribe to the Landlord Law Blog by email

Never miss another post!

Sign up to our
>> daily updates

If you are new to the blog >> click here

Get Your Free Ebook:

Click to get your Free Ebook

>> Click Here for Your Free Copy

Featured Post

Tessa Shepperson

Why you need and how to get proper legal advice on landlord and tenant issues

Tessa’s Podcast

The Landlord and Lawyer Podcast

Worried about Insurance?

Landlord Law Insurance Mini-Course

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to provide information, comment and discussion.

Although Tessa, or guest bloggers, may from time to time, give helpful comments to readers' questions, these can only be based on the information given by the reader in his or her comment, which may not contain all material facts.

Any comments or suggestions provided by Tessa or any guest bloggers should not, therefore be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer regarding any actual legal issue or dispute.

Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice or perceived as creating a lawyer-client relationship (apart from the Fast Track block clinic service - so far as the questioners only are concerned).

Please also note that any opinion expressed by a guest blogger is his or hers alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tessa Shepperson, or the other writers on this blog.

Cookies

You can find out more about our use of 'cookies' on this website here.

Associated sites

Landlord Law Services
The Renters Guide
Eco Landlords
Your Law Store

Legal

Landlord Law Blog is © 2006 – 2021 Tessa Shepperson.

Note that Tessa is an introducer for Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers and will get a commission from sales made via links on this website.

© 2006–2022 Tessa Shepperson | Rainmaker Platform | Contact Page | Privacy | Log in

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept