A Norwich letting agent has been arrested after landlords and tenants complained about missing rent payments and deposits, some of which had not been placed in one of the UK’s three Government-approved schemes, it has been reported.

Complaints about the firm first emerged in December last year, which, until it shuttered, was based off the high street in an industrial unit in the city.

Nightmare

In Google reviews of the firm the arrested agent worked for, one landlord wrote: “I haven’t had any rent paid to me in nearly a year. Thousands of pounds are now owed. I have tried numerous times to communicate with TIILI, to no avail. Now having to consult solicitors to reclaim the money owed. It’s been a nightmare.”

Another warned: “AVOID AT ALL COSTS! Every month, have tried and failed to contact [the company] to get rent paid into our account. No surprises they’ve gone into administration.”

I have not received a single payment from any of the rents.”

And a third landlord added: “I met with Amy Kennedy and then contracted with TIILI six months ago – but I have not received a single payment from any of the rents that TIILI “supposedly” collect[ed] on my behalf.”

Such is the fallout locally that one letting agency, Arlington Park, has launched a webpage offering affected landlords advice and help.

Companies House reveals that TIILI has traded under a number of different names over the years, including Abode Estate Agency and Brik Agency Ltd. It has now, though, been liquidated and its Propertymark membership revoked with ‘an ongoing investigation.’ The agency’s properties remain on Zoopla.

When the Norwich Evening News approached TIILI’s founder and director, Steven Barker, about the allegations, he declined to comment, although landlords told the newspaper that their main point of contact was Amy Kennedy, who was appointed as a director in May last year before resigning in November.

Read more about tenancy fraud.

Photo courtesy of X.