Not sure if this is the right subreddit to put this on, so apologies in advance.
I 17F in London England and my family moved into a flat 3 days ago after viewing it with a letting agent; we got the keys and tenancy agreement the very next day (first time renting privately if that matters).
My mum paid part of the deposit by transfer, but the agent pushed for cash and eventually she withdrawled the money and they planned to meet in the afternoon. He kept delaying it due to 'traffic' and then met her at 9pm in a parking lot to collect it, which felt off therefore I told her to stop paying him in cash from now on.
Yesterday, while I was home alone, a man and woman came to the door of my flat claiming to be the real landlord/agency. They asked questions about my mother's name, when we moved in, who rented us the flat and how they looked like. They then told me that the flat is being rented illegally and said my family and I will need to move out and go to the police. The woman did most of the talking, provided me a contact card with the agency's name, her full name and mobile number.
After they left, I called my mum to come home immediately. She then called that woman who basically said the same thing to me, although she also added that this has happened before in the past few weeks.
After finishing that call, we then tried to contact the local authorities but we couldn’t get a hold of anyone, leaving us on hold for almost 4 hours until the local authorities terminated the call due to the office being closed.
We called the landlord whose name and contact information was written on our tenancy agreement, as well as him sending us a welcome text message the day we moved in. He said he’s legitimate, told us not to worry, and from what I understood from the call, claimed he bought the flat from the council therefore he owns it. He said he will contact the people who came and reassured us that they will not return.
I did some research of the agency that came to the door, I was not able to find any connection of them and the flat or any other properties in our area. I’ve contacted them using their form to ask for confirmation if the individuals who came to the door truly represent the agency, if the agency has any connection with the flat and if so, how could this happen (apparently twice).
I feel so lost now. Both sides seem legitimate, yet I don't know who to believe and I'm afraid to even live here. Any advice on what to do next would be appreciated.