Letting agent goes into liquidation

News Category: Industry News

This article was brought to you by Rentman the premium property management system.



A letting agent in Chester has gone into liquidation after it emerged he owes almost £200,000 to a variety of creditors.



Martin & Co franchisee Geoff Lavery owed nearly £100,000 to different landlords and tenants and another £86,000 to companies such as Rightmove and Homelet.



Cheshire Police are now investigating the case and Martin & Co has obtained a High Court injunction against Lavery to prevent him working as a letting agent in Chester.



The problems in Chester were uncovered after three Martin & Co franchise holders in Brighton, Tunbridge Wells and Rotherham were stripped of their licences following alleged misuse of deposits.



A fourth case saw £150,000 of tenants' deposits go missing.



Ian Wilson, Martin & Co's chief executive, told Estate Agent Today that his firm was working to put its house in order.



But he said the company, which was established as a franchise in 1995 and now has 170 independent businesses operating under its name, had no plans to change its recruitment policies.



"We try our very best to check everyone out, but with the best will in the world, not everyone we recruit will be a winner," he said.



Find out more about letting agent software