my full management estate agent do not pay my rent

shish2009

Frankie82 wrote: »

I also have a property rented with them...

They never pay me my rent, ignore my calls and are complete liars!

Anyone who lives in Manchester - stay away from them!

If ever there was a need to do an expose on dodgy property companies, Rentapad would be top of the pile!:mad:

thanks , could you just tell me what did you do with them that i get a idea to deal with them.

Manchester09

Hello,
I've been doing a bit of online research into this company as I'm in a similar situation so any advice would be really appreciated.

My landlord has contacted me recently explaining that rentapad have not been paying him the rent he is due. I've made all my payments on time and I have proof of this. I've been doing some research online and there are a lot of recent reviews from people saying that they can't get their deposits back and landlords aren't being paid etc. The landlord is going to terminate my contract so he doesn't have to deal with rentapad. I'm concerned about a few things: getting my deposit back (it's held in a TDS and we have a certifcate), how this will affect me getting another property as I bet they won't give me a reference (although I do have previous landlord references I could use), etc.

I'm also concerned about paying the landlord direct so could any contract be put in place / this be safeguarded in anyway?

m_13

Take a look here: http://www.whathappenedlastnight.net/manchester/estate-agents/rentapad

Various people are taking this company to court to get their rent from them. If you are a landlord then why not contact the person in the thread who has left their email address as they are taking them to court.

I think Trading Standards in the area would be interested in the problems.

theartfullodger

Just tried to find them on Companies House... don't want to panic anyone but... the only rent a pad is, apparently, dormant,
===============cut 'n paste starts ===========
Name & Registered Office:
RENT A PAD LIMITED
32 LYNDHURST DRIVE
LEYTON
LONDON
E10 6JD
Company No. 03631198

Status: Active
Date of Incorporation: 14/09/1998

Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Company Type: Private Limited Company
Nature of Business (SIC(03)):
7440 - Advertising
9272 - Other recreational activities
Accounting Reference Date: 31/12
Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/12/2008 (DORMANT)
Next Accounts Due: 30/09/2010
Last Return Made Up To: 14/09/2008
Next Return Due: 12/10/2009
Last Members List: 14/09/2008
Previous Names: Date of change Previous Name 28/08/2002 WEST SINAI CORPORATION LTD

---==========cut 'n paste ends

---

lampkin

Hi,

I left the note on whathappenedlastnight..nte asking people to contact me. I'm going to speak to the police this week (this is fraud), as well as a local paper. I just want factual statements.

My deposit was not placed in the protection scheme, I was sadly unaware that a certificate should have been recieved (I know this now).

Rentapad are claiming financial difficulty, it doesn't excuse failing to follow the law (house act 2004 I believe) and it certainly doesn't excuse spending peoples deposits in the business.

I went travelling for 6 months in October after leaving a flat we rented through them in Manchester. We were told our deposit would be given back within a matter of days. I phoned them several times before we left to travel and was told someone would get back to me (they of course never did). After this, I asked a friend to chase the matter up, after numerous ignored phone calls, emails, faxes and letters my friend got through on the phone although was unable to discuss the matter in a civil manner.

We returned home and have started court proceedings. Rentapad (The owner Thom Doherty) replied to the court summons explaining the business was struggling, offering to pay us back at £50 a week! As we are looking to move into another property, we need the deposit in full. Further investigation reveals I should be speaking to the landlord, although I have no contact details for them, I phoned rentapad in an attempt to get the landlord's details, of course, I was asked to put this in writing...

I've now started looking around and can see there are numerous people having the same problem, I'm hoping that the situation will be of interest to the police (in terms of fraud) if I can get a few statements together. I'll be speaking to the local press in any case.

Please contact me at sllabres AT hotmail.com. Hopefully, we can at the very least stop other people experiencing the same thing!

Regards,

Sebastian

ed: I friend of mine forwarded me a whois a few weeks back, this has now changed:

whois.cgi?query=rentapadlettings.co.uk&WHOIS+Submit.x=0&WHOIS+Submit.y=0

The owner was listed as a sole trader, the company is still trading as we speak though.

Antispam

I doubt the Police will be interested unfortunately as they will say its a civil matter. Just write to them and give them 7 days or small claims court but it maybe they will wont pay and Bailiffs be called in and they claim we have no assets

lampkin

Antispam wrote: »

I doubt the Police will be interested unfortunately as they will say its a civil matter. Just write to them and give them 7 days or small claims court but it maybe they will wont pay and Bailiffs be called in and they claim we have no assets

I understand it's a civil matter, but this is happening now and may still be happing to others as we speak, I can't believe there's nothing that can be done about it right away.

If you read my post, you'll see I'm already taking them to small claims court.

m_13

I would be making a complaint to Nominet. Peter Hough has stated he has registered the domain as a private individual and so can hide his address:

The registrant is a non-trading individual who has opted to have their address omitted from the WHOIS service.

However, this is plainly not the case as the domain is running a business. However, the main URL for the company is actually www.rentapadlettings.moonfruit.com and then forwards to the domain name owned by Peter Hough. The email address is also slightly different being www.rentapad4lettings.co.uk which is owned by Rentapad:

Domain name: rentapad4lettings.co.uk

Registrant:
Rentapad

Registrant type:
UK Sole Trader

Registrant's address:
Suite 205, Lansdowne House, 792 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury
Manchester
Lancashire
M20 6UG

This URL points at the same website. I'm wondering if the original website address expired and Peter Hough bought it speculatively and then tried to sell it back to the company but in any case the registration does not correctly reflect the content of the site.

The registrant gives no address or a bad address - what can I do?
There are two reasons why the address listed on the WHOIS might not be sufficient for you to contact them:

• The information we have is wrong, out of date or absent.
  Registrants are required to give us "correct" contact information. If you are concerned that the address information for a domain name is incorrect, and you can prove this, please contact our registrant services department about it. We may then start our process for dealing with this, which will result in new information being entered or the domain name cancelled.
• The registrant is using the opt-out from the WHOIS.
  Consumers are not required to show their address on the WHOIS. They can take advantage of an opt-out. This opt-out can be removed if they are found to be trading, and we can also release their address in certain cases. See our advice to registrants on this topic.

Raising a dispute with Nominet is free. The complaint form is here: http://www.nic.uk/disputes/drs/drsforms/

I still think you should report them to Trading Standards:

There are a number of steps you can take if you are experiencing problems with a service you have purchased. These include collecting all your documents together and contacting the trader in an attempt to resolve the matter, seeking an expert opinion from a third party if necessary and/or contacting the trade association (if relevant). As a last resort you can consider going to court. If you suspect there is evidence of a criminal matter you should contact your local trading standards department.

Didsbury is covered by Manchester Trading Standards:

Manchester Trading Standards Service
1 Hammerstone Road
Gorton
Manchester
M18 8EQ
Tel: 0161 234 1555 (8.45am to 5pm)
Fax: 0161 957 8379
Email: [EMAIL="trading_standards@manchester.gov.uk"]trading_standards@manchester.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

tbs624

Sebastian - *the LL* is responsible for the return of your deposit if rentapad were merely the LA.

Whilst you were a T had you requested in writing that the name& address of the LL be given to you by the LA, they would have had to comply within 21 days of receiving your request.

Go on to the Land Reg website and you can access details of the property owner - it costs a couple of quid.Do also write to renta pad for the info (rec del & keeping a copy) as their response ( or lack of) to that will add to the picture in any court action.

It is the LL's problem not yours if rent a pad have business diffs & haven't sorted out tenant deposits. I can PM you some letter examples for seeking the return of the deposit and the 3 x penalty for failing to ensure its registration, and failing to supply prescribed scheme information

lampkin

tbs624 wrote: »

Sebastian - *the LL* is responsible for the return of your deposit if rentapad were merely the LA.

Whilst you were a T had you requested in writing that the name& address of the LL be given to you by the LA, they would have had to comply within 21 days of receiving your request.

Go on to the Land Reg website and you can access details of the property owner - it costs a couple of quid.Do also write to renta pad for the info (rec del & keeping a copy) as their response ( or lack of) to that will add to the picture in any court action.

It is the LL's problem not yours if rent a pad have business diffs & haven't sorted out tenant deposits. I can PM you some letter examples for seeking the return of the deposit and the 3 x penalty for failing to ensure its registration, and failing to supply prescribed scheme information

Hi,

The letter examples would be a great help, thanks!

We had already started court proceedings before I had returned from travelling and have so far only taken the letting agent to court, not realising it was the landlords responsibility until now as rentapad have accepted responsbility for stealing our deposit. I guess I'm going to have to contact the court and perhaps start again, although we've already replied to the court saying we don't accept rentapads offer. I'm really not that confident that we'll see the money again either, nightmare. We were under the impression the landlord was sufferering financially before we moved out also.

I'll be phoning trading standards momentarily. This is all very helpful, thanks very much!!!

Seb