We’re highlighting International Fraud Awareness Week 2020 and this year we are focussing on tenancy fraud. One type of tenancy fraud is when someone is living in a home they shouldn’t be. Tenancy fraud is illegal and people doing it could go to prison or receive a fine of up to £5,000. People committing tenancy fraud are stopping others from getting the homes they deserve. You can find out more about how we deal with tenancy fraud here
Giving up your tenancy if you are committing tenancy fraud
We would like to give our customers the opportunity to tell us about tenancy fraud taking place in their home, without facing any penalties. We simply want to help others get a home they need. You can help us with this by giving up our tenancy and keys if you are committing tenancy fraud. If you think you are renting a home from one of our customers, then please contact us. We’ll do our best to get you the help and support you need to find a new home.
What to do if you think you know someone who is committing tenancy fraud?
We understand tenancy fraud isn’t easy to spot but please be aware of this in and around your neighbourhoods. Contact us and report this on a confidential basis. Here are some things that may show that tenancy fraud is taking place:
- a sudden change in who is living in the home
- someone being vague about who lives in the property or what their relationship is to them
- increased anti-social behaviour at the property
- if your neighbour has passed away and a friend or family member is now living in the home
- the property seems to have been abandoned
- your neighbour is talking about their landlord as a person, rather than a housing association or council.
What tenancy fraud can include
- subletting – this is unlawful, renting out a home to someone else without our permission.
- abandonment – when a customer abandons their home and hasn’t told us that they’re not returning to it
- wrongly claimed succession - when a customer dies and someone tries to take over the tenancy when they’re not entitled to
- false Right to Buy/Right to Acquire – when a customer makes a Right to Buy or Right to Acquire application and gives false information
- key selling - when a customer sells their keys to someone for a lump sum payment
- getting a house by deception - using false information to gain a social housing home
- people can be victims of tenancy fraud without knowing and be paying more for a home which they could be eligible for through social housing.
You can find out more about Fraud Awareness Week here
You can find more information about how to protect yourself from scams here.