Concern as let agency ‘vanishes’
0612010 SSFF shutting clearlets Clearlets, Whytescauseway, Kirkcaldy that is already closed
A KIRKCALDY letting agency appears to have vanished without explanation.
Clear Lets, which was based in Whytescauseway, shut up shop last weekend without warning.
Now worried landlords and tenants are concerned they could be left out of pocket, claiming their repeated attempts to contact the company have failed.
One couple who rent a house in Kirkcaldy told the Press they have now got in touch with the police.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she and her husband became a Clear Let tenant in the town a year past October, and they were now concerned they won’t be able to get their deposit back.
She said: “We just happened to be walking by the office in the town and we saw the windows were all whitewashed and the signs had been taken down.
‘‘We had no idea what had happened as they never got in touch to tell us.
‘‘Our landlord is currently in the States and when we told him, he told us to stop our direct debit immediately.
‘‘His mother has got in touch with the police and we are due to see them to give a statement and show all our paperwork.
“I have tried contacting Clear Lets by phone but the lines are all dead and when I telephoned their branch in Glasgow all I got was an answerphone message.
‘‘There may be people who don’t know anything about this yet, word is only just starting to get out.”
She added: “The company has properties all over Fife and Glasgow so a lot of people will be owed a lot of money.
‘‘Tenants like us will have paid their deposits in good faith and will now be asking: where is our money?”
Rent payment
Tracy Crisp also rents a flat in Kirkcaldy and said she found out there was a problem when her landlord put a note through her door.
“She said she had been trying to get hold of Clear Lets but hadn’t been able to,’’ she said.
‘‘ She hadn’t received my December rent payment but it had come out of my account.
‘‘I am wondering if I am going to get my £500 deposit back. I haven’t received any notification from the letting agency.
‘‘I have cancelled my direct debit and managed to come to an agreement with my landlord, but I can’t get hold of anyone at Clear Lets. They just seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth.”
John McArthur, private sector housing team leader, Fife Council, said: “We are aware of the current situation with Clear Lets and we are currently advising those landlords who contact us to seek independent legal advice or contact CARF.
Police check
“As some tenants may not have a contact for their landlord, given that all contact was done through this letting agency, we would suggest that landlords who have used Clear Lets get in touch with their tenants as soon as possible.”
A spokesman for Fife Police said: “We are currently carrying out an enquiry into the company’s status as reported to us by members of the public.
‘‘We have had a number of enquiries and anyone who has contacted us over the last few days will be seen by an officer and a statement taken.”
The Press also tried to contact Clear Lets for comment, but received no response to our e-mails and phone calls.
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Weather for Kirkcaldy
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: West
