Letting agents and property managers face a specific category of reputational attack: tenants who make false allegations of deposit theft, unlawful eviction, or harassment, and landlords who falsely claim their properties were mismanaged. Both categories of claim are fully actionable under UK defamation law.
Tenant-Generated False Allegations
The most common defamatory scenario for letting agents involves tenants who have had deposit deductions applied or who have been served with valid possession notices — and who respond by posting false allegations online. These typically allege: theft of the deposit, unlawful or illegal eviction, refusal to make repairs, harassment, or discriminatory treatment. Where these allegations are false statements of fact rather than mere expressions of dissatisfaction, they are actionable under the Defamation Act 2013.
The Serious Harm / Serious Financial Loss Test
Individual letting agents can bring claims on the basis of serious harm to reputation. Companies and trading entities must additionally demonstrate serious financial loss — evidence of lost landlord instructions, reduced income, or withdrawal of property management mandates that can be causally linked to the false allegations.
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Regulatory Complaints and Qualified Privilege
Complaints to the Property Ombudsman, Trading Standards, or the local authority private sector housing team made in good faith attract qualified privilege, protecting the complainant where they acted without malice. This protection does not extend to the same allegations published on Google, on letting forums, or shared with other tenants. The most actionable category of case is precisely this pattern: a regulatory complaint combined with a parallel social media campaign.
Landlord-Generated False Allegations
Landlord clients can also generate defamatory allegations — claiming a letting agent misappropriated rents, failed to vet tenants, or mismanaged properties. Where these allegations are published to other landlords, on property forums, or to ARLA Propertymark, the same defamation framework applies. Qualified privilege covers only the formal regulatory complaint — not the wider publication.
Related reading: Google review defamation | Defamation for estate agents | Review platform defamation
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