A bankrupt debt expert was ordered out of a luxury home after running up more than £15,000 in rent arrears. It’s also claimed that thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to the house during the 18-month stay by Alan Harty.
It’s the second time the self-styled debt adviser has moved into a luxury home and run up thousands in unpaid rent. The latest landlord to fall victim to Harty is retired restaurant owner Costanzo Cacace, 72, who was granted an eviction order in October after a lengthy legal battle.
Bentley-driving Harty was also ordered to pay the rent debt of £15,155 in October but has so far failed to do so. He left the property in the village of Torrance, near Glasgow, at the beginning of December – before the eviction order could be enforced.
He’s now living with family in the Glasgow suburb of Milngavie, where, yesterday, he declined to comment. A property tribunal which granted the eviction was told that Harty’s work involves helping people in financial difficulties through debt consolidation, debt arrangement schemes and trust deeds.
On a previous occasion in November 2020 Harty was ordered to pay £38,445 plus interest after he missed 11 consecutive payments on a luxury property in nearby Bearsden owned by an American company executive. He was then made personally bankrupt at Dumbarton Sheriff Court in July 2021 after failing to repay the money.
Costanzo’s wife Jo McGilp, 55, said their dealings with Harty over their Torrance property have been a nightmare. She said they found damage to window blinds, a dining room table, kitchen units, bedroom wardrobe door, fireplace and bathroom fittings. A giant fridge was left tilted on one side and dirty inside.
Jo said: “We visited the house on December 19 and were devastated to see the state it was in. The carpets in every room were filthy and the wood floors were also damaged. I wish that I had never set eyes on Alan Harty and that is an understatement.”
Harty had signed a lease on the four-bedroom property in July last year. After he began defaulting on the rent, Costanzo launched legal proceedings in April to have him evicted. The eviction order was granted by the Housing and Property Chamber – which handles rent disputes – on October 20.
Jo said she and her husband had retired to Capri in Italy and the monthly rent of £2795 was for them to live on. In 2018, a debt advice firm run by Harty – Richmond Oaks Associates – went bust owing creditors £200,000.
At the time Harty had been shortlisted for an Entrepreneur Of The Year award. The Housing and Property Chamber said it did not find his evidence to be credible or reliable.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
