A Brent estate agency that rented and illegally sublet homes in the borough has been slapped with a hefty fine.
Easy Let Agency was found to be duping landlords by leasing their properties only to illegally re-rent them to large groups of tenants, Brent council said.
The dodgy agency was listed under a false address in Willesden High Road and the racket was only discovered by Brent Council when neighbours complained about lots of people coming and going from a property in Gowan Road.
The five-bedroom Gowan Road home was leased to Easy Let freelance estate agent, Claudio Crisafulli.
What's happening in Brent?
Crisafulli was found to have sublet the home as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) without the landlord's knowledge.
Easy Let also operates under the name Focus Property Management Limited, and its directors and personnel were prosecuted for licensing and housing offences at Willesden Magistrates' Court on January 25 and January 30.
On January 25 Claudio Crisafulli was was fined £400 for failure to licence and £400 for a breach of management regulations on top of £40 costs, the council said.
On the same date Easy Let company director, Marcio Da Silva of Lewis Crescent, was fined £2,000 for failure to licence and a further £2,000 for breach of management regulations as well as £1,670 in costs.
Co-director of Easy Let, Marcio Auriello Do Prado of Willesden High Road, was fined £3,000 on January 25 for failure to licence and £3,000 for breach of management regulations alongside £1,670 fines.
In a separate hearing on January 30, Focus Property Management Limited was told to pay a total of £20,229 in fines for management regulation and licensing breaches for another rented property in Tower Road, Willesden Green.
Brent council cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, Councillor Harbi Farah, said: "We will pursue estate agents and subletters who operate outside the law all the way to court.
"Sadly, we have seen that rogue operators in the private rented sector disrupt neighbourhoods and make tenants' lives a misery.
"Brent Council will do everything to improve the standard of living in Brent."
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can set up your app to see all the latest news and events from your area, plus receive push notifications for breaking news.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android .
