Check the Credentials ; a Lettings Agency Failed to Spot Bogus References and Cost a Homeowner Dearly - It Only Paid Up When Threatened with Court.

Summary

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Mira Bar-Hillel reports STUART Worrall has been living in San Francisco since 1982. In December 2000, he bought a flat in Ealing as a rental investment and interviewed several local agents who specialised in lettings. Worrall chose Sinton Andrews because it claimed to know the area extremely well and said it could find a tenant faster than other agencies.

Among the company terms of business was the requirement that the firm must obtain its own references from prospective tenants. But when Sinton Andrews was approached by a potential tenant who had his own references, the firm did not check them. Later, it was found that one reference stated that he was employed with Bathberg Limited, earning Pounds 120,000 a year, while another claimed he was with Bothberg Investments, earning Pounds 160,000 a year.

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Extract

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Check the Credentials ; a Lettings Agency Failed to Spot Bogus References and Cost a Homeowner Dearly - It Only Paid Up When Threatened with Court.

However, Sinton Andrews's Clive Briggs told Homes Property that the tenant's references appeared to come from reputable professi...

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