LETTINGSnews


DATA pROTEcTiON Warning on tenant privacy laws


Letting agents and property investors who manage their own lettings who have not


registered under data protection laws may be breaking privacy laws. All businesses and organisations that handle personal data of customers must register with data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and follow strict rules or face prosecution. This includes residential and commercial landlords that manage their own properties as well as letting agents. ICO has warned that few


landlords and letting agents are registered under data protection laws and advises that they should sign up if they handle tenant’s personal details and financial information.


Only 3,734 estate agents and


1,416 lettings agents are on the data protection register; a tiny


proportion of the sector. ICO says it is working with professional bodies, including the NAEA and ARLA, and it is urging them to encourage their members to sign up under data protection rules. Mick Gorrill, Head of


Enforcement at the ICO, said, “We want to work with the


industry to ensure all property agents meet the legal requirement to notify us that they are processing personal information. A targeted approach working with stakeholders and membership bodies has proved highly successful in other sectors. We will be writing to organisations providing them with advice and encouragement to notify. “However, if that


encouragement is ignored, we will take action against those who flout the law. The message is very clear - notify with the ICO or face regulatory action.”


ROGUE AGENTS Norwich letting agent jailed


The Devil is in the detail


Letting your property is no laughing matter and nor is getting your property back when your tenant has been less than careful with it. Proving the condition at the start and at the end of the tenancy is vital to being able to hold your tenant to account. Make sure you use an APIP member to prepare your Inventory and Check out report. That’ll take the smile off his face!


Always use an APIP Member. You’ll have a devil of a job proving the condition of your property if you don’t! Find your local APIP Association of Professional Inventory Providers Member at


www.apip.org.uk or call us on


01926 417 363 52 DECEMBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum


A letting agent who stole £137,000 from landlords and tenants has been jailed after a court heard he was guilty of a gross breach of trust. David Sole was franchisee of


the Belvoir agency in Charing Cross, Norwich, until his arrest in December 2009. As information was received by the police about his fraudulent actions he turned himself in; admitting that he had taken rent and deposits from tenants but never passed them on to landlords or deposit schemes. He was jailed for 21 months


on November 10th at Norwich Crown Court. However, the court heard that he has few remaining assets and only £10,000 is likely to be recovered from the sale of his house. This will be confiscated but must be shared between about 65 victims, meaning there is little hope they will ever be repaid in full. Prosecutor John Farmer said Mr Sole had taken over the Belvoir Norwich franchise in 2002 and had no previous experience or training. “The defendant should never have been in this business at all and it ran at a loss from day one,” he added.


Sole, 38, of The Street,


Lenwade, began to steal in 2007 and, when the recession hit and he lost clients, found


himself taking more and more to prop up the business and support his family. He sent clients statements saying payments had been made and relied on them not checking their bank statements to verify his claims. Tenants discovered they were being ripped off when their deposits were not returned at the end of their contracts. Mr Farmer said, “He realised he had been rumbled when his office began receiving calls from tenants, landlords and the press. He went to the police but by this stage an investigation was already underway.” In his statement he said:


“I’ve lied to Belvoir, I’ve lied to landlords, I’ve lied to friends, I haven’t been living in the real world. I had a choice: either take my own life and take the coward’s way out or tell people what I’d done.” The court heard that Belvoir


staff, including his former partner, had been unaware of his crimes. Recorder Christopher Morgan said, “You are not a victim of the recession. Many people find themselves in such financial difficulty but do not resort to dishonesty. You are unlikely to ever have sufficient funds to make in-roads into the loss your victims have suffered.”


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