By Sammie Jones
A lettings boss has been banned for six years after failing to safeguard over 68,000 worth of deposits covering 54 properties.
Kelly Louise Forrester (40) was banned for using the deposits of tenants to run the company instead of depositing it in a government backed deposit scheme as expected. appointed director of Clear Lettings Limited when the company was incorporated in 2007.
Trading as a real estate agency based in Exeter, the company was better known as Clear Property, and operated a custodial deposit scheme. In accordance with the Housing Act 2004, Clear Lettings would safely hold onto tenants’ deposits on behalf of their landlords.
Investigators say that from at least June 2016 through to April 2019, the Exeter-based director caused Clear Lettings to fail to comply with its statutory obligations to properly safeguard more than £68,000 worth of tenants’ deposits.
The misconduct was uncovered after Clear Lettings entered into liquidation proceedings in April 2019 and the Insolvency Service conducted investigations into the activities of Kelly Forrester while director of the real estate agency.
DISQUALIFICATION ORDER
On 24 December 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Kelly Forrester after she did not dispute that she had caused Clear Lettings failure to ensure that deposits taken from tenants by the company totalling at least £68,356 were safeguarded, as required by the Housing Act 2004.
Effective from 14 January 2020, Kelly Forrester is banned for 6 years from acting as a director or directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Dave Elliott, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:
Kelly Forrester failed to safeguard the deposits she was entrusted to hold onto, resulting in losses to both landlords and tenants.
Her conduct fell short of what is required of a director of a limited liability company and her disqualification will act as a deterrent to other people in future”.
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