Tenancy deposit thefts now top £700,000

According to recent data, crooked letting agents were convicted of stealing almost £700,000 of tenancy deposits in the first half of 2017– with the average theft totalling almost £50,000.

Related topics:  Landlords
Warren Lewis
27th July 2017
Cash

Renting reformer Ajay Jagota keeps a running total of the cash value of deposits criminal letting agents have been convicted of stealing, which he publishes on a quarterly basis.

By the end of June overall thefts for 2017 totalled £673,273 – with an average theft of £48,091 per conviction.

Subsequent convictions have taken the total close to £750,000

15 rogue agents have been convicted of offences relating to the theft of deposits in 2017 – at an average of more than two a month.
Recent convictions include:

· Timothy Shinners of Bolton, serving three years after being convicted of misappropriating almost £80,000 of tenants following a private prosecution.

· Stephen Heath of Beccles, who admitted 21 offences of theft totalling £118,000 and was given a suspended prison sentence of two years and 150 hours of community service.

· Becky Westby of Warrington, given a suspended sentence of six months after being convicted of the theft of £5510 of deposits.

· Jermaine Jauvel of Brockley, who disappeared the day he was scheduled to be sentenced for four counts of fraud relating to an unspecified amount of tenancy deposits.

Research from deposit-free renting solution Dlighted last year showed £1,018,100 of deposits were stolen in 2016 - with at least one landlord or letting agent convicted every single month. 2017’s figures are on course to exceed that figure.

Ajay Jagota, founder of Dlighted, a proptech company which offers an alternative to traditional Tenancy Deposit schemes responded to the figures: “Some are arguing that no reform of the deposit system is necessary. But in the current system agents have managed thefts of at least £700,000 in just six months.

Within the next four years, almost £6billion will be held in tenancy deposit schemes, roughly £4billon of which will retained by letting agents and landlords. Not only is this money missing from the UK economy, it is far too easy for it to go missing altogether.

It’s simple – if renting is deposit free, it isn’t possible for people to steal deposits. Not only does deposit replacement insurance better protect property investor’s assets and offer them compensation for legal fees and lost rent – as well as making it easier to find and keep good tenants – it also prevents crime.

The worst part is the almost £2million which landlords and letting agents have been convicted of stealing, is in my opinion and many of those in the industry,  nowhere near the true scale of money misappropriated from tenancy deposit accounts with an alarming number of operators apparently happy to use money from tenancy accounts for other business purposes.

Much of this money will be put back, but much of it won’t – and the fact money is missing will only ever be uncovered in the event of company collapse or criminal investigation. The legislation the government will be bringing forward to cap deposits is also the ideal opportunity to do something about this scandalous situation.”

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