Fortunately we do not receive many bad reviews as our statistics will prove, but it is not nice to receive a negative one, more so when you read one which only tells half the story.

Yes we introduced a tenant who, despite being referenced and passed by an independent referencing agency, managed to produce a false passport and a false identity. The police confirmed this. And yes, it turned out that the fictitious fraudster posing as a bona fide tenant was running some sort of a brothel and despite paying the required deposit and most of his rent till he left, he turned out to be a complete crook. I know it was not very nice for the Landlord to learn the truth and that we had innocently introduced him to her property. Occasionally, and it is rare, a bad tenant does get through the net of scrutiny and checks of a referencing agency. In 20 years of running a Lettings business it has happened to us about 3 times. I defy any Landlord or agent to pick up on a determined fraudster who has the ability and underworld connections to produce a false passport and credible references - it is almost impossible to root out and prevent. The Police confirmed this to me as well.

My first contact with the Landlord was on 14th December 2016. The last email we exchanged was on 17th February 2017. In the intervening 2 months - the time it took to evict the tenant and change the locks - I and other members of my firm exchanged countless emails and more phone-calls than I can remember. The Landlord was not unsupported at any time; every email and phone call was aimed at advising the Landlord of the best course of action, and was intended to correct the most unfortunate and unusual set of circumstances. We willingly visited the property on multiple occasions on behalf of the Landlord, to see whether the tenant was still in situ, take photographs and to accompany the locksmith to change the locks etc.

We obviously felt duty bound to help the Landlord as best we could despite the fact that we did not manage the property for her - we were simply the introducing agent - but this did not in any way influence our continuing role to help and advise in order to bring about an end to a bad situation for which we obviously felt some responsibility and a duty of care. Had the Landlord felt that we had failed in that duty of care, I would fully have expected her to report us to the Property Ombudsman to complain. The Landlord has not done this to date, some 4 months later.

So why did we fall out? Well the Landlord never told us directly but we now know that despite the fact that we refunded the fees she had paid to us for the period after the tenant vacated - in accordance with our Terms of Business - we advised her that if we found her a new tenant, we would make a charge for doing so. I had never promised that we would find a new tenant for free. The Landlord had presumed that we would or should be working for nothing - whereas in the end she will probably have paid another agent to let the property and be in exactly the same position as she would have been if she had allowed us to find a new tenant. Her call.

I fully understand that the Landlord will have been perturbed by the introduction of a fraudster but if we had not expected to have been paid something I am certain she would have instructed us again. So it was primarily about money and the Landlord's expectation of us to work for free - all the help, guidance and time spent counted for nothing, so she took her business elsewhere, which of course she was fully entitled to do.

I understand, but you are entitled to hear all the facts and make up your own mind.