The Buy2let Shop 

Reply from The Buy2let Shop

Jul 10, 2019

Dear Charlotte,

Whilst we appreciate your frustration at not being able to complete on the 2 lucrative investments in question, we don’t feel your above comments are a fair reflection of the situation.

Now that a thorough review has been concluded by The Property Ombudsman (TPO) relating to your claims against us, finding in our favour, we thought it only fair to respond to your inaccurate and misleading comments on various review platforms as it may give a false impression to those reading.

Key points to consider:
• Following registration to our service you reserved 2 different properties that you decided met your criteria; a repossessed property (part of a bulk deal with an American bank that we had negotiated at a discount for clients) and an off-plan property with a national developer, also at a discount exclusive to our clients

• You remained satisfied with the investments themselves, but later found your ‘source of funds’ did not allow you to proceed to completion with either property.

• You remained willing to proceed with both properties up until the last, it was not that you were not motivated or committed.

• When you registered to our services you were upfront that the source of funds was from a family member and that you had Power of Attorney (POA) to use this.

• We were not alarmed by this. You had stated that you had this officially carried out with a family solicitor, gifted loans from family members are fairly commonplace in property

• TPO state in their findings “I am not able to fairly conclude that the information they (The Buy2Let Shop) received should have placed them on notice of the likelihood of issues to arise, such as the developer requiring further checks, or the POA authority being called into question.”

• TPO further state “TB2LS were to some extent entitled to assume that the transfer of funds itself had been carried out in accordance with the POA and advice from the family solicitor whom held the POA. The Complainant says this was the case and the advice she received in the first instance was that she could use the funds in the way intended, and would not need a letter from a solicitor confirming this, so it is difficult to see how TB2LS might have concluded otherwise.”

• TPO also state “In any case, that the solicitors recommended by TB2LS asked for this to be done not only to comply with money laundering checks, but also to ensure that the funds could legitimately be used, cannot fairly be held against TB2LS in my view.”

• TPO also says “All are aware that TB2LS’s Terms and Conditions render the reservation fee and buyer’s premium non-refundable if the buyer is unwilling or unable to proceed.”

• And finally “Any person choosing to engage in such an investment venture – which by its nature carries some level of risk – should take their own steps to ensure that their intended investment will proceed successfully to fruition.”

• In regards to fees, neither seller agreed to refund your non-refundable reservation deposit as you broke the terms of the agreement, the solicitor agreed to refund your fees for their incomplete service, we have retained only 1 Buyers Premium and are not pursuing you for the balance for the second aborted sale


We understand you are disappointed and believe you acted in good faith, albeit without unfortunately accurate information from your legal representative in regards to your POA.

We too were disappointed. Your inability to meet your commitments badly affected our relationship with the sellers of the properties you had reserved and in particular, the bank in America eventually withdrew all 9 properties that were part of that bulk deal. This meant that all other clients that had reserved were bitterly disappointed to have their opportunity taken away from them. It meant a loss of 9 fees to our company and the loss of a lot of goodwill with those clients.

In the circumstances, that we’re only retaining 1 fee of the 2, we believe is fair. Certainly The Property Ombudsman believes this to be true and given that you signed accepting their findings suggests you are too. Clearly this is in stark contrast to your online reviews.