£1m Raided From Tenants' Deposits By Letting Agents

Letting agents raided more than £1m from tenants' deposit schemes last year. Fourteen letting agents were prosecuted in the UK in 2016 for helping themselves to tenants' cash. Despite the Tenancy Deposit Scheme being introduced to protect tenants' money, deposits can still be held in a bank account controlled by the landlord or agent. Since 2007, landlords and their agents have had a legal requirement to put every tenant's deposit in a government-backed scheme, such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. But deposit money can either be held in a custodial account run by the scheme, or it can be held in a bank account, which the landlord or letting agent can access at any time. Read more on the BBC.