Letting agents fraud case dismissed after thousands are returned
THE case against three lettings agency bosses accused of fraud has been dropped after they returned thousands of pounds in deposits to landlords.
Toni, Jacqueline and Kayleigh Burridge, formerly directors of Hothomes UK Ltd, were accused of falsely claiming that deposits were guaranteed in a secure bank account.
-
The trio had allegedly claimed the company was part of a registered deposit protection scheme so money would be returned if the firm was liquidated.
Toni, aged 41, Jacqueline, aged 41, and Kayleigh Burridge, aged 20, all of Collingwood Villas in Stoke, had each denied a joint charge of fraud by false representation between October 31 2010 and July 1 last year.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, June 30 2013
They were due to go on trial before Plymouth Crown Court later this month.
But Alistair Verheijen, for the Crown Prosecution Service, offered no evidence on the charge.
Recorder Michael Hubbard dismissed the case.
Mr Verheijen said the family had handed back about £3,500 to the police, which would be returned to the landlords.
He added resident judge Paul Darlow had asked the CPS to reconsider the case.
Mr Verheijen said: "If the lost deposits are repaid the Crown cannot see the public interest in proceeding with the case."
The Burridges were not in court.
Magistrates were told at a previous hearing that deposits paid to the agency should have been maintained in a separate bank account.
Prosecutors said if the business failed the deposits could be returned and would not go to other creditors.
The Herald reported that Hothomes UK closed its offices in Stoke village in July last year.
It had opened there for business only in the previous August.
The Westcountry Landlords Association immediately raised fears about rent payments and deposits.
Hothomes was thought to have employed about eight people and did business in residential and commercial sales, conveyancing, financial services and producing Energy Performance Certificates.
The Burridge family, which moved to Plymouth from North Devon in 1998,
started a business producing EPCs in Stoke, in 2007.
A year later they started a business
producing more than 100 Home Information Packs (HIPs) a week.
But two years ago the Government scrapped HIPs, causing the business to close. The family then started Hothomes.
Comments
by unclehairy
Wednesday, January 02 2013, 7:55AM
“DPS were of no assistance to me when my previous landlord did the vanishing deposit trick on me.
No bother though...Its only money. -Ex tenant of Mr Matthew Conyers”
by Kevin_M_N
Sunday, December 09 2012, 4:34PM
“Sounds like an absurd decision. They took the deposit money, claimed it had been placed in a deposit protection scheme when it wasn't; therefore they lied in order to pursue their business and make money. If that's not fraud then what is?
Incidentally the landlords involved would seem to be liable to repay up to three times the value of the deposit, as they may have inadvertently broken the law by failing to secure the deposits. The onus here is rightly on the landlords to do this. See https://http://tinyurl.com/ckqrbdg for more information.
What is worst about this is that the UK is currently in the grip of a new breed of greedy landlords, who are driving up rents at taxpayers' expense. Successive governments have allowed this, and the current one is only seeking to penalise tenants on lower incomes rather than tackle the real culprits. This blight is also the main cause of home buying becoming unaffordable for many, as landlords owning many homes can easily borrow to but more, whilst first time buyers cannot. This is bad enough but too many landlords already care little about their tenants and are happy to break every rule they can get away with. This judgement will doubtless give the green light to others to do what they like, secure in the knowledge that if found out all you need to do is give some money back, and no further action gets taken. Now imagine this was about benefit fraud - would it be "not in the public interest" to prosecute if someone got caught committing benefit fraud, but offered to give £3500 back?”
by swoop4
Sunday, December 09 2012, 9:18AM
“It's a shame Bjork had to involve herself in all this.”
by MissAnthrope
Sunday, December 09 2012, 8:52AM
“Your relationship with mcspredder is no concern of mine. What you get up to in your own home is your own affair. All I'm trying to get you to realise is, that people feel about as sorry for out of pocket landlords, as they do for bankers who don't get their bonuses. Complicated concept obviously.”
by MuppetAlert
Sunday, December 09 2012, 8:30AM
“#MissAnthrope - no, you didn't touch a raw nerve at all, but your ill-informed and offensive remarks were clearly directed at someone I know and love. If you have an issue with your own landlord, speak to him/her and deal with it - don't tar everyone with the same brush.”
by MissAnthrope
Saturday, December 08 2012, 6:13PM
“Touched a raw nerve there obviously. Power to the tenants!”
by OutsideView
Saturday, December 08 2012, 2:49PM
“A sad day for the rule of law.”
by MuppetAlert
Saturday, December 08 2012, 10:04AM
“#nothalf. No, I wasn't missing the point, merely correcting an error made by MissAnthrope (whose post I note has now been removed). Good to see the 'erald are policing this site and removing posts which are offensive and potentially libelous.
Carry on.....”
by nothalf
Saturday, December 08 2012, 8:45AM
“@muppet. missing the point and rude,muppet”
by MuppetAlert
Saturday, December 08 2012, 8:09AM
“#MissAnthrope - if you had read the post properly, you'd have seen that DayGlow_Daisy was referring to the theft of rental money, not deposits. Engage brain before opening mouth.
How does it feel, MissAnthrope, to look like a plonker, eh? How does it feel? Hahahaha!"”