Property news: 1m Brits 'fall victim to landlord scams'

New research has revealed that approximately one million people in Great Britain renting property privately have fallen victim to landlord scams in the last three years.

This is according to housing charity Shelter, which indicated that, on top of this, four per cent of those asked knew someone who had had such experiences, taking the total to more than two million.

Some of the cons included Let and Run, where a house is broken into and then rented out to unsuspecting tenants and Receipt Rip Off, where swindlers ask for money to be wired to a family member or friend as proof that rent can be afforded and, upon asking for proof of receipt, use transfer details to withdraw funds.

"With more and more people set to become private tenants in the future we believe this is a widespread problem that will create thousands more victims unless we urgently do something about it," Campbell Robb, chief executive of the body - which works to persuade the government to enact policy changes to benefit renters - remarked.

Posted by Mark Cunningham ADNFCR-2353-ID-800062299-ADNFCR

13/09/2010 13:39

News category: Property

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