Letting Agent not protected tenants deposits (M&W Lettings)

[billybobynumeroduo]

@ billybobynumeroduo What a shame the Courier weren't interested, just think how many people would have been saved the nightmare they have gone through. Have you been in touch with them since seeing this thread again? The problem is, this whole con has been orchestrated out of very nice offices, by a charming blond (who only let's true colours be shown when confronted). Typical con type stuff. Even the story in the Courier about the conviction was strange. The version in the Paddock Wood edition was much tamer then the version in the Sevenoaks edition, same Reporter. Bit weird. The press have an important part to play in awareness, but they have failed in this instance. And of course, if you read back over the earlier posts in this threads, M&W were booted off from My Deposits in July. It is unlikely they meet the criteria of the other two schemes. So either, their website lies about the properties they have rented out in the last few weeks, or they are potentially holding deposits illegally with no protection. Can't really understand how they getting away with this.

 

To be honest, seeing how easy it is, why don't we all give up our day jobs and set up unregulated lettings agencies. Seems it's money for old rope and you can just walk away with what you like.

 

Additionally, there was a white van outside their PW offices yesterday, it's all gone now. A runner me thinks.

 

Hi there agencynightmare,

 

totally agree with what you are saying.

 

The Courier article August 29, 2014 only really covered the £28k benefits swindle and alluded to M&W lettings but no special mention was made.

 

I think someone needs to do some proper investigation into the 'Company' and as you put it, potentially, there is a whole bunch of clients' money being 'held'.

However all the claimed properties let on the website, I would take that with a pinch of salt.

 

So when are we going into business then? You aren't a charming blonde by any chance? If so your hired!

[agencynightmare]

Billy, if our business model is that of M&W, I can be any sort of blonde you want me to be.

 

You don't happen to be a boyish charming fella with public schoolboy hair, with an irate cheated wife will beat me up in a very public display on Paddock Wood High Street do you?

 

If so, we're made for each other ;-)

 

Whilst the above is meant to be amusing, there seems to be a long history of one at least of the Partners in this business ripping people off.

 

The PW office has now been abandoned, and her house is now on the market dropping weekly in price at a rate of knots.

[hoverman]

I remember this girl from Sevenoaks - She ran a company called Alistair Stuart Sly & Sons around 1994 when I was an agent in the Town - She was charging VAT on her services then without being VAT registered. From memory people said she just made one up!

[bentilley]

I'm not sure how the various M&W companies relate to one another, but one of them seems to be in trouble - M&W Sales and Lettings LLP annual return overdue (due 10th June 2014), First Notification of Strike-Off Action in London Gazette 5th September 2014.

 

M&W Sales and Lettings LLP directors:

Mr Jonathan Alan Clements & Ms Lucy Katrina Sly (born April 1967), as opposed to M&W Property Consultants Ltd. directors:

Mr Jonathan Alan Clements & Mrs Lucy Katrina Sly (born April 1969)

 

must be someone else then...

Edited November 19, 2014 by bentilley
missed out some info

[alien2014]

Hi, I am a landlord and I have had several issues with M&W, especially Lucy Sly. She has said she is 'unwell' and no longer part of the office and is now completely out of reach. They still owes us some rent payments and the deposit payment. I am told the deposit cannot be released without her permission and she is no where to be found. Any advice? Is anyone else dealing with such problem now? Thanks

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

Do you know where the deposit money is please, is it one of the protection schemes?

 

My best, HB

[raydetinu]

Alien, as you know you are responsible for the deposit and if the tenant is due their deposit back, you must do that without delay or you could be sued and possibly for non-protection?

I presume LS is acting as stakeholder for the deposit ( M&W in fact hold onto it )!

So you will have to sue her or them for its return? and possibly breach of contract.

[hoverman]

Hello Alien,

 

Firstly you should refer back to your original tenancy agreement to see which scheme M&W used to protect the deposit. It is likely to be my deposits. You should have also received a certificate from M&W/my deposits to confirm that the deposit had been registered and giving you a reference number.

 

From previous threads it looks like M&W were removed from the my deposits protection scheme in July of this year. If it is my deposits protection scheme you will need to call them on 03333 3219401

If you do not have a certificate or reference number you will just need to quote your name full address of property let and the start date of the tenancy. Explain your dilemma and they will advise you if the deposit is protected and your position in your circumstances.

 

Am I correct in saying that you are expecting the security deposit in full to be paid over to you? Is

this because of tenant rent arrears/dilapidations? If so has the tenant confirmed in writing that they agree to the full deposit to be returned to you the landlord? This is important as in some schemes unless the tenant has authorised this In writing it remain disputed for a certain period of time and therefore remain in the M&W segregated clients account if there is one! There should be no reason why M&W are withholding rent payments to you which looks suspicious considering my deposits removing them and also them not filing their annual accounts due 15th June 2014.

 

For future reference the only safe scheme in my opinion is the (Custodial)Deposit Protection Scheme.

The deposits are held independently not by the agent or landlord. There are also no fees for this service. In these frugal times it is too tempting for agents to use deposits for cash flow purposes robbing peter to pay Paul! Inexcusable in my opinion.

 

I am not familiar with my deposits as a scheme. if they have removed M&W from their scheme and are no longer responsible for them as a company you may need to seek legal advice or Police involvement however you should act quickly as from the recent threads it looks likely that this company could be planning to dissolve in the very near future.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Hoverman

[hoverman]

To add: From a previous thread it seems that action fraud have an investigation into M&W you can contact them on 03001 232040 Ref: 140800729141

 

Hoverman

[Cougar69]

Lucy is on suspended sentence. Let her no you will go to cranbrook nick for a little chat. Just hope she doesn't take Jon down with her.

[Viktor Navorski]

Interesting reading.

 

 

Firstly, not too hard to find her, all of the information you need is in the public domain.

 

 

You know her name, Lucy Sly, so search for her under director check, it's free. You should come up with four results. All companies she has set up. Now look at the registered addresses, one will be her residential address, although she has probably changed the name of the house, so, go to the neighbours, she is bound to be known.

 

 

The way I see it, the company is closed or closing, nothing in the PW office and notice in the window, and OC385074 is being struck off, again in the public domain.

 

 

Whoever is owed money you need to go directly to the police, withholding your rent and not returning your deposit is theft and something has to be done about it. If she manages to sell her house she will be gone and you will not be able to get a penny back of what you are owed. After reading the posts here, I'm not surprised she is feeling ill, the 200 hours of community service are probably taking their toll to. Take legal advice and if you have found her residential address from the steps above, go to small claims court online and do it fast.

[alien2014]

Yes it is held with mydeposits, we want it returned to the tenant. I was assured by the agency that it was re-registered but now it says it is unprotected. On top of this they owe us a few months rent payment, equivalent to 3 months salary, which was promised to be sent but delayed due to 'computer systems' and now no contact at all. Jon says he has no responsibility over it at all and that he is not a director.

[Viktor Navorski]

The rent and deposit will be two different matters. Collecting the rent for several months and failing to pass it onto you is theft. Go to the police and report it as such, do not let them fob you off with action fraud as fraud is different to theft. It sounds as though M&W have been taking people's deposits claiming that they are secure and then not returning them, that can be read as a fraudulent act. Jon was a director of the comapny at the time it was trading and he will be liable, however it's an LLP and its being wound up so good luck, I would imagine he is distancing himself from this as far as he can.

 

On another matter, the threats about getting your IP address and taking the matter further with the police. My understanding of the situation is that a court order would have to obtained, this would have to be done privately by her or by the police in the event a crime has been committed, and judging by the earlier posts they would have no reason to go after you. I very much doubt that she would have the funds or legal backing to obtain a court order, more than likely she is just intimidating everyone to get them all to run and hide, you could just imagine the judge reading these posts as she tries to get the order?

 

You will need to act fast if what people on here say is true and she is trying to sell up, I've just looked at the deeds of her property online from the address found on director check and there are a few charges on it so I would guess that you are not alone.

[bentilley]

alien2014 - just fyi jon's relationship with each of the M&W companies as of today:

 

M&W Property Consultants Ltd. - Director, Company Secretary, Consultant, 50% shareholder

 

M&W Sales and Lettings LLP - Designated Member

 

M&W Sales and Lettings (St. Leonards) Ltd. - Director, Company Secretary, Estate agent

 

(Info from Duedil, checked with CompanyCheck)

Edited November 30, 2014 by bentilley
bad spelling

[raydetinu]

Yep agree, I do not know why the Police have not been involved as of yet!

These actions are very similar to the case I posted earlier about an EA in Camborne and the Police were all over him!

If anybody does go to the Police just refer them to that case!

[Viktor Navorski]

The difficulty that everyone who is owed money will face is when they wind everything up, she sells and then vanishes, common practice these days. People need to act, small claims are very efficient and its relatively easy to do, just fill out the forms and get them into court.

 

I would suggest taking them both to court.

 

From earlier posts it would appear that no actually knows which comapny they were trading under? Any ideas on that?

 

The police do need to be notified and your missing rent monies reported as theft, I would be intrigued to know more about the charges on her property and why they are there, does anyone have any more info?

 

Also from the websites there appears to be a crossover on some of the properties so not quite sure how Jon can claim that he has nothing more to do with any of it.

 

Just looked up the first address on Google Earth and judging by the fact it's number 2 would assume it's one of the pair of houses on what appears to be a farm.

[Cougar69]

Her and Jon were not just business partners. But he's seen the light.

[agencynightmare]

Good Lord, how many more people need to have been ripped off before the authorities do something about this woman?

 

In case you haven't seen the article Ray refers to, it is http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Dodgy-Camborne-estate-agent-Tim-Glasson-jailed/story-23177509-detail/story.html

 

The issue here with no-one investigating this properly, is that it is only when tenancies come to an end, people realise they have a problem. How many people are still going to have this issue and with her house on the market, she could be long gone before they even find out.

 

Jon Clements was a Partner / joint Director in all of these businesses, he cannot just choose to wash his hands of it. That is him trying to hold you at arms length and hoping you go away.

 

The fact that it has been uncovered the deposit was not protected by My Deposits kind of confirms speculation from earlier on this thread as to whether any deposit taken by M&W from the mid July (I can't recall the exact date, would have to go back through to confirm) was not protected.

 

Is this not a criminal offence now?

[Viktor Navorski]

It sounds as though the damage has been done whilst he was working there, it will be difficult for him to claim he knew nothing of her actions, if the police do get involved then he will be standing alongside her.

 

Why does the one in St Leonard's look exactly the same?

[agencynightmare]

This is just speculation about what I think happened given timings.

 

M&W Property Consultants, St Leonards, was set up with JC as sole Director a couple of weeks before LS's court case, I guess because for the amount of the fraud, there was a real chance of her going down. So they were protecting the business. Allegedly, they were still together, as a couple, and business partners, after her conviction. Only when the story broke in the press did JC really seem to distance himself. But that is a moot point. If deposits were taken when JC was still part of the business that was taking the money, which he was, he is equally liable.

 

From what I can make out, now, after the fact sadly that it can't help any of us, her reputation was known. Moral of the story, check out who you're getting into bed with, literally and in the business sense. Ignorance is not a defense in this instance. He is jointly culpable.

 

@Cougar69 - You post as if you know JC?

[agencynightmare]

It seems that all the landlords and tenants of these properties do not have their deposits secured. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find/MW-Sales-and-Lettings/StLeonards-on-sea.html?locationIdentifier=BRANCH%5E110165&propertyStatus=all&includeLetAgreed=true&_includeLetAgreed=on

 

And these:

 

http://www.mandwresidentiallettings.co.uk/ipm/properties/search_list.php?tratyp=Letting&minprice=&maxprice=&let_minprice=&let_maxprice=&minbedrooms=&location=&rows_per_page=&orderby=&button.x=62&button.y=9

 

Some authority should be checking who the landlords of these properties are and alerting them to check the deposits are actually secured. And the tenants living in them should be alerted to check as well.

[hoverman]

On the information provided by Vicktor with the office being closed with a sign on the door

You need to act very quickly in instructing a good solicitor to freeze both LS & JC assets.

JC was a director and is still recorded as a Director. Freeze their ill gotten gains ASAP.

 

LS house in under offer and I am sure she will be will pushing for this sale to complete ASAP in order to cash in, run and hide.

[Viktor Navorski]

Hi hoverman,

 

 

I have searched but cannot find anything for sale or under offer at the addresses I have found online, could you please help us with the information?

 

 

Cougar69, Jon is as guilty as she is, the only chance he may have is if he were to come forward and assist the authorities with their investigation, best of luck with that.

 

 

If the house is under offer then she will vanish. Everyone who has lost money to this bully should go directly to the police and push for a full investigation, if she is arrested it would make life easier for all of you get something out of the sale proceeds.

 

 

I wonder how more tenancies are due to come to an end, makes me wonder if her greed got the better of her and she kept going for too long and its all coming to the surface before she can run?

[hoverman]

You can only imagine where the £28,000 came from to pay back her benefit fraud.

[hoverman]

Hi Viktor,

 

From previous threads her house was on the market with Harpers and Hurlingham of Cranbrook.

From a separate thread from that on the 13th November it was posted that her house was plummeting in price to encourage a sale. The house is not visible on the web.

 

I would say that sly is under offer and has told the agent to remove the property knowing that one or more of the victims are likely to freeze her assets. JC's assets should also be frozen for anyone who is considering this action. I have also read that there are many other charges against her property.

 

Victims should also contact the Local MP Greg Clark to gather momentum to this fraud so that the police are involved and hopefully local press.

 

To think there are landlords and tenants who are oblivious to the goings on of these fraudsters!

There activity a should be open to all to protect the public.

 

Hoverman