I have yet another problem! Any help would be really useful as I don't really know what to do.
The rent on my shop includes the flat above it. I used to live in the flat but when I bought my house, I decided to sublet the flat to bring in an extra income & reduce the risk of squatters getting in. I asked the guy with the shop next door which agent he used as he has let his flat out for 12 years and always with the same agent. He gave me the details & I got him out. He seemed to know what he was doing and the contract was straightforward so I signed it. He got a tenant in within about a month, taking a month's rent as deposit & a month rent in advance. I got a statement a few weeks later saying how much rent was paid, what his fees were and that what was left would be put into my account. A few weeks later, no sign of the money. By this time, the tenant must have paid another month's rent and no sign of that either. I left it for a while thinking it might just take some time for it to transfer, then I was worried I'd given him the wrong bank details so I tried phoning him. The usual number said 'this number does not receive incoming calls', when I tried the second line it was dead. I went round to the guy next door who knew nothing about it, he hadn't spoken to him for a while so he said he'd go round to his house. A while later, he rang me to say the house had a 'sale agreed' board outside and the furniture was gone. Looks like he's done a runner with 3 months worth of my rent (over £1k). His website is now down too and I've emailed him but its only a hotmail account so no saying he'll check it. I HOPE he just moved house and just isn't organised but I don't think that's likely. So where do I stand? We are going to speak to the tenants tomorrow to see how much money they have handed over and when they last saw the agent, then I guess we go to the police if we still can't find a way of getting in contact. I am so annoyed, and to make it worse, my parents are blaming me for it rather than trying to help. They are silent partners in my business but tend not to be so silent! I don't really know what to do next. I can still afford to pay my rent, etc but its a lot of money to lose and I now have a tenant with no contract.
The rent on my shop includes the flat above it. I used to live in the flat but when I bought my house, I decided to sublet the flat to bring in an extra income & reduce the risk of squatters getting in. I asked the guy with the shop next door which agent he used as he has let his flat out for 12 years and always with the same agent. He gave me the details & I got him out. He seemed to know what he was doing and the contract was straightforward so I signed it. He got a tenant in within about a month, taking a month's rent as deposit & a month rent in advance. I got a statement a few weeks later saying how much rent was paid, what his fees were and that what was left would be put into my account. A few weeks later, no sign of the money. By this time, the tenant must have paid another month's rent and no sign of that either. I left it for a while thinking it might just take some time for it to transfer, then I was worried I'd given him the wrong bank details so I tried phoning him. The usual number said 'this number does not receive incoming calls', when I tried the second line it was dead. I went round to the guy next door who knew nothing about it, he hadn't spoken to him for a while so he said he'd go round to his house. A while later, he rang me to say the house had a 'sale agreed' board outside and the furniture was gone. Looks like he's done a runner with 3 months worth of my rent (over £1k). His website is now down too and I've emailed him but its only a hotmail account so no saying he'll check it. I HOPE he just moved house and just isn't organised but I don't think that's likely. So where do I stand? We are going to speak to the tenants tomorrow to see how much money they have handed over and when they last saw the agent, then I guess we go to the police if we still can't find a way of getting in contact. I am so annoyed, and to make it worse, my parents are blaming me for it rather than trying to help. They are silent partners in my business but tend not to be so silent! I don't really know what to do next. I can still afford to pay my rent, etc but its a lot of money to lose and I now have a tenant with no contract.
