I advertised my flat for rent on gumtree this year. Virtual homes letting agent contacted me and said they would rent out my flat to no extra charge to me. I later realised when they told me that they had advertised my flat for £100 on top of what I wanted each month and they would take that. They initially said they would take it from the tenant and once the tenant moved in, they made me pay them 1,200 (total annual fee up front which I paid over three months of equal installments. They said that they would hold the 6wk deposit money in a DPS account as required by law. On the fourth month when I was expecting to get my full rental, I didn't recieve any money from the tenant and the agent said they had sent around some 'heavies' to intimidate the tenant and force them to leave. They told me that they had to pay the tenant a big portion of of the deposit to remove them swiftly. This all sounded like a story and when I asked for proof of payment to the tenant, I got nothing. Then was told that Virtual homes had liquidated and the lying culprit 'Yasmin Caan' had joined her brothers agency 'Smart homes'. They gave me no reciepts, no monthly rental, no deposit to use as the tenant had absolutely destroyed my flat upon leaving and no remaining balance from the remaining deposit which she promised would be returned to me. I later found out that they had opened an account but didn't put any money in the DPS. They refused to take my calls and won't give me any money back. Not only did they refuse to help but made me believe that they were trying to rent out my property of which they wasted a further nearly 2 weeks. She pretended to be a trustworthy letting agent and scammed me over 4 months of £3,000. According to her account statement she also took about £2,500 from the tenant too. She initially told me she owned Virtual homes and by the end of it, she told me she just worked for Mr Vidat (a name I am sure she made up). I have just started to get back on my feet after a terrible divorce and she knew it and played with me. I wonder how many more people she has scammed. Can you help me? I would love to get my money back, but she and her scamming must be exposed.
Kind regards,
Sneha Klare
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