Fake council officers knock on doors in scam targeting council tenants

A council has warned its council tenants about ‘cold-callers’ attempting to enter properties by pretending to be council officers.

Mansfield District Council claims it has seen evidence of door-knocking cold-callers touting for business on behalf of law firms, targeting tenants on council estates.

The callers falsely claim they are from the council and say they are inspecting homes for repairs that need to be carried out.

Fabricated repairs such as damp and mould

Councillor Anne Callaghan, portfolio holder for housing, says some of these cold-callers have used alleged repair issues such as damp and mould to encourage tenants to pursue false compensation claims.

She said: “These cold callers are targeting council tenants, often with a false promise of getting compensation, despite the fact that the council has a good and improving record of carrying out repairs within the correct timescales.

“Sometimes we have discovered these ‘inspectors’ have even fabricated repairs such as damp and mould, in order to make an alleged claim under the Landlord and Tenant Act.

“These claims take up a lot of officer time and cost the council money unnecessarily, money that could be spent on vital services instead.

“The council is a good and responsible landlord and ensuring our tenants have safe and decent housing is a priority.”

The local authority currently has 108 such claims lodged against it. However, the council claims that very few of these cases reach court.

It has completed 95.4% of urgent repairs and 79.26% of non-urgent repairs on time, with an overall completion rate of 86.03% within the legal timeframe. However, this still means that nearly 14% of repairs fall outside the required timeframe.

Ask for official identification

Simon Ford, head of housing repairs at the council, urges council tenants to be vigilant.

He said: “Council officers would never just turn up on your doorstep. We always make an appointment to inspect a home or we send out a letter alerting tenants that someone will be calling on them.

“We are very disturbed that these callers are gaining entry to the homes of sometimes extremely vulnerable and poorly tenants.

“The residents think they can win thousands in compensation with these claims but most never get to court, usually because there is no case to answer.”

The council has issued guidance to help tenants protect themselves, advising them to always ask for official identification or a letter of authorisation, and to contact the council directly if they have any doubts about a visitor’s identity.