I read with interest this morning about how a lucrative housing scam cost some landlords in the South East as much as £86k each in damages and loss of rental income. Thankfully the person responsible has been now bought to justice and will serve four years in prison before being deported back to her native Zimbabwe.
What happened?
Rose Chimuka rented a number of large family homes across the South London area. She approached landlords using fake ID and pretended to be a wife and mother with a respectable well-paid husband. None of the landlords suspected a thing and once the lease had been signed and the keys to the property handed over, Chimuka proceeded to change the locks and convert each room in the property into a bedsit in order to generate as much rental income as possible.
Once the locks had been changed, landlords who became suspicious and turned up to inspect their houses were unable to gain access—in one instance Chimuka even had the audacity to call the police when a landlord tried to enter his own property!
Apparently Chimuka made around £100,000 from her housing scam, but like all good things, her money making scheme came to an abrupt end when she was arrested on eleven counts of fraud.
How can you prevent this from happening to you?
1. Be as thorough as you can when checking a tenant’s references—never take any potential tenant at face value, as things are not always what they seem.
2. Take out a good landlords’ insurance policy to protect you from potential property damage and loss of rental income.
