Dubai landlords have called in police to track down letting agents who have disappeared after failing to pay thousands of pounds in rents.
Many of the landlords are expats who asked FHS Properties and Marks Falcon Real Estate to manage their homes.
Both firms offered cheques for rent that bounced.
Now their offices have closed and landlords more than a dozen landlords have complained to the police.
FHS is rumoured to manage 5,000 properties in the United Arab Emirates, mainly in Dubai.
Landlord owed £50,000 rent
One British expat has spoken with police about lost rent totalling more than £50,000.
“We tried to settle this out of court but now that the office is closed, we have no other option than to go to the police,” he said.
Another says he is “resigned to losing the money” after cheques for more than £20,000 in rents on two properties in Dubai bounced.
After a meeting in Dubai, a group of expats is planning to go to police with a collective complaint against both letting agents.
Many have checked rent payments with their tenants, who can show they handed over cash to the letting agents, so technically, they have paid rent even though the property owner has not received the cash.
Landlords face a double loss as they must continue to pay service charges and mortgages out of their own pockets, while admitting they may never see their money.
A support group is advising landlords to switch rent payments to their own banks or other agents as soon as possible to minimise their losses and to protect cash flow.
Dubai police have declined to comment about any inquiry.
Extra security
It is believed FHS and Marks Falcon are separate companies with no trading links.
Rumours about the companies abound on expat forums online from landlords and tenants.
One angry tenant claims Marks Falcon had to hire extra security at their offices as a safeguard against against angry customers complaining about their service.
Tenants also allege that repairs were not carried out but landlords were billed up to four times of the value of the work.
A landlord claims Marks Falcon closed on September 1 after a number of post-dated cheques bounced.
landlords also allege a separate property scam in Dubai is for brokers with power of attorney to let out homes at less than the agreed rent with landlords, only to disappear with several months of cash collected from the tenant.