The business was still not answering calls, while questions were being asked why it had taken the Company Registry until the same day news broke about its difficulties to list the operation for strike off when it had not received payment by February as required.
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission said it was ‘seeking to determine facts’, while a notable investor in the business said he did not know what was happening.
The estate agent vacated its High Street premises on 25 July – yesterday its Facebook account, which had been a target for messages of concern, was deleted.
Lottie Barnes, who has been trying desperately to recover a £2,000 deposit with Sarnia paid for a flat she was about to rent, made an appeal for official help while other residents took to social media questioning what would happen to their money.
Quinten Hubbard is a director of an investment company that has shares in Sarnia Estate Agents.
‘I’m not involved in the running of Sarnia Estate Agents and have no idea what is going on,’ he said.
Maureen Gasney still had one of their ‘for sale’ signs in her window yesterday and was in the process of changing estate agents due to their lack of communication.
‘I tried to contact them various times because I haven’t really had any viewings,’ she said.
‘I’ve called up to get feedback and nobody has got back to me. I last spoke to them a couple of months ago. On Monday, I phoned to sack them from selling my house as I have another estate agent coming in, but nobody answered.
‘They’ve had no money from me, but think about all these people that have money with them.’
Speaking about Miss Barnes, Mrs Gasney said: ‘If she had children what situation would she be in? In my mind’s eye they should have sent out letters to let the clients know what’s going on.’
Another resident left unaware of their situation was Krystina Hudson, who said she just wanted her money back.
‘There’s not really a lot to say,’ she said.
‘No one knows what’s going on but I am unhappy about it.
‘All we know is they have gone, not told landlords, tenants they manage, people buying houses and left us all with nothing
‘All I want is my money they hold back.’
Most estate agents in Guernsey are registered with professional bodies and so should hold rent and deposits in ring-fenced accounts
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.