Regnum Defende
12-01-2010, 14:52 PM
Hi to all – New to the forum so if I am in the wrong area please can you direct me?
I would like to question your legal expertise and/or experience in regard to serious ongoing financial irregularities I am having with a National Residential Letting Company (Franchise) based in Swindon.
Background:
I am serving in the Armed Forces having recently returned from a three-year overseas tour. I have my privately owned house rented for approximately 4 years now through a nationally based Residential Lettings Company whose franchise is based in Swindon. There website boasts guaranteed set monthly income even if your property is empty (Platinum Service). This being the no-risk option my wife and I opted for bearing in mind our location due to my employment. This is obviously deducted at a percentage cost from income generated from any client and was agreed at initial contractual conception. All easy so far and all was agreed and contract signed between the Residential Letting Agent’s Manager and ourselves as the owners.
First year was trouble free and just what we expected of this nationally based lettings chain. From thereon in we have encounted difficulties in gaining rental income from this franchise manager. Always requiring me to instigate all the international phone calls and receive excuse after excuse (No apology though) and delayed payments. Again this went on for approx two years on and off but we always eventually received our money sometimes a month late.
We stayed with the company due again to my overseas location and my concern that if we withdrew our contract when it naturally (annually) completed we would have difficulties and managerial headache in assigning another and gaining set income when we needed to pay the mortgage on the property as well as my own military accommodation overseas etc. (Better the devil you know I thought).
Recent Times:
On my return to the UK I was, and remain, local to the franchise office much to the annoyance of the franchise manager/manageress. (Names and company intentionally omitted for now).
I have begged and pleaded for money on numerous days, taken time off work to visit him and always receive the same defiant stubborn stupidity from this appointed manager. He will look me in the face and say that he has paid me and that it is transferring which takes time blah, blah. I have waited for 2 – 3 months with no income and took out a small claims court case. When I served him the documents a cheque miracoulsy appeared. No apology to the contrary. He is unfortunately rude, arrogant and absolutely ignorant to me and my wife. It’s as if we are the problem not his financially based mismanagement, negligence and apathy in regard to our property’s management.
He has tendered a company cheque to me recently which then bounced. No apology just a re-issue of another one!
We gave the Residential Lettings Agent manager in Swindon a phone call and email notice to return our house to us with 3-months-notice. (Something he stated to me in person he wanted to happen ASAP.) Then he telephoned my wife to ascertain if it was OK with us to return the house to us on 18th December 09 as stated he could move his client into another house he had empty as she had not paid him several months rent. This would then allow him to release our property back to us. We agreed to this course of action.
This incredulous man then telephoned us stating that we either accepted his non-paying client in situ and cancelled the contract and the whole legal responsibility of removing her would be at our entire cost or she again remained in situ until our contract expired in June 2010 which is were we are now as I agreed the latter in order to maintain our legal and financial protection under the Residential Lettings ‘Platinum Service.’ No explanation as to why he had completely changed direction and again no apology – This was our problem.
The lettings manager informed me that the current occupant hasn’t paid rent for some time and that he had taken legal action to for recovery and eviction if no funds were forthcoming. Sounds reasonable but doesn’t remunerate me with the Platinum Service guaranteed rent I was promised and signed and contractually agreed to.
Out of the blue I received a telephone call last week from one of our friends adjacent to our rented property requesting that we get in contact with the tenant as she had problems with the management of the house (maintenance) that was not being addressed or rectified. [None of the contractors would attend the house as they hadn’t been paid for other works from this Residential Lettings franchise/company.] She (The occupant tenant) had been trying for some time to contact my wife and I but didn’t know our names or telephone numbers. Furthermore she had been instructed not to talk to us both as we were both nasty and vicious people who should not be believed and definitely not allowed access to the rented property.
On the 18th December just past the letting agent manager called at the property and demanded money in order to stop his personal house being repossessed. He was clearly distressed and the tenant wouldn’t allow him access as he is approx 6ft 4in Irishman and quite overpowering for her on her own. She stated she had paid him December’s rent and would therefore not pay him again and he left. She has documented, signed monthly rental receipts for all payments to our appointed residential letting agent manager. She has never been asked to vacate the property or received any legal correspondence for non-payment etc.
My wife immediately emailed the Franchises Headquarters who told simply told us it is policy for a ten-day grace period of non-dialogue before they intervene. We told them we had not received two months rent from the franchise manager again and this is shortly to become 3 months bar a couple of days. We fear the franchise/company is going bankrupt and stealing revenue from one property under his management to pay another. The financial bubble is about to pop and we are likely to be continuing to pay for his client to remain in our property. It is not the fault of his client who has signed receipts for payment so and she is offering to pay us directly in order to maintain her occupation there. Her tenancy agreement expired last September and she has not signed any agreement documents since. I have not seen her tenancy agreement to check if it is simply rolling 6 monthly agreement.
I have instructed a Letting Agent Solicitor (On a one-off fee of approx £95) to dissolve the contract between us and the Residential Lettings Company franchise so that we can’t become liable.
What can I do as I believe this Letting Agent is acting fraudulently with our income? Do I involve the police or are likely to site this as a civil issue?
Sorry for the ‘War & Peace’ email but at least you can read just a little of what we have been enduring.
I look forward to hearing from anyone in the legal profession or anyone who has recent experience in assisting us in (a) Getting our property returned ASAP so we can market it and (b) Getting the lost revenue that this National Residential Lettings ‘Platinum Service' guaranteed us albeit under a franchise which the national company appears to be distancing itself from.
I would like to question your legal expertise and/or experience in regard to serious ongoing financial irregularities I am having with a National Residential Letting Company (Franchise) based in Swindon.
Background:
I am serving in the Armed Forces having recently returned from a three-year overseas tour. I have my privately owned house rented for approximately 4 years now through a nationally based Residential Lettings Company whose franchise is based in Swindon. There website boasts guaranteed set monthly income even if your property is empty (Platinum Service). This being the no-risk option my wife and I opted for bearing in mind our location due to my employment. This is obviously deducted at a percentage cost from income generated from any client and was agreed at initial contractual conception. All easy so far and all was agreed and contract signed between the Residential Letting Agent’s Manager and ourselves as the owners.
First year was trouble free and just what we expected of this nationally based lettings chain. From thereon in we have encounted difficulties in gaining rental income from this franchise manager. Always requiring me to instigate all the international phone calls and receive excuse after excuse (No apology though) and delayed payments. Again this went on for approx two years on and off but we always eventually received our money sometimes a month late.
We stayed with the company due again to my overseas location and my concern that if we withdrew our contract when it naturally (annually) completed we would have difficulties and managerial headache in assigning another and gaining set income when we needed to pay the mortgage on the property as well as my own military accommodation overseas etc. (Better the devil you know I thought).
Recent Times:
On my return to the UK I was, and remain, local to the franchise office much to the annoyance of the franchise manager/manageress. (Names and company intentionally omitted for now).
I have begged and pleaded for money on numerous days, taken time off work to visit him and always receive the same defiant stubborn stupidity from this appointed manager. He will look me in the face and say that he has paid me and that it is transferring which takes time blah, blah. I have waited for 2 – 3 months with no income and took out a small claims court case. When I served him the documents a cheque miracoulsy appeared. No apology to the contrary. He is unfortunately rude, arrogant and absolutely ignorant to me and my wife. It’s as if we are the problem not his financially based mismanagement, negligence and apathy in regard to our property’s management.
He has tendered a company cheque to me recently which then bounced. No apology just a re-issue of another one!
We gave the Residential Lettings Agent manager in Swindon a phone call and email notice to return our house to us with 3-months-notice. (Something he stated to me in person he wanted to happen ASAP.) Then he telephoned my wife to ascertain if it was OK with us to return the house to us on 18th December 09 as stated he could move his client into another house he had empty as she had not paid him several months rent. This would then allow him to release our property back to us. We agreed to this course of action.
This incredulous man then telephoned us stating that we either accepted his non-paying client in situ and cancelled the contract and the whole legal responsibility of removing her would be at our entire cost or she again remained in situ until our contract expired in June 2010 which is were we are now as I agreed the latter in order to maintain our legal and financial protection under the Residential Lettings ‘Platinum Service.’ No explanation as to why he had completely changed direction and again no apology – This was our problem.
The lettings manager informed me that the current occupant hasn’t paid rent for some time and that he had taken legal action to for recovery and eviction if no funds were forthcoming. Sounds reasonable but doesn’t remunerate me with the Platinum Service guaranteed rent I was promised and signed and contractually agreed to.
Out of the blue I received a telephone call last week from one of our friends adjacent to our rented property requesting that we get in contact with the tenant as she had problems with the management of the house (maintenance) that was not being addressed or rectified. [None of the contractors would attend the house as they hadn’t been paid for other works from this Residential Lettings franchise/company.] She (The occupant tenant) had been trying for some time to contact my wife and I but didn’t know our names or telephone numbers. Furthermore she had been instructed not to talk to us both as we were both nasty and vicious people who should not be believed and definitely not allowed access to the rented property.
On the 18th December just past the letting agent manager called at the property and demanded money in order to stop his personal house being repossessed. He was clearly distressed and the tenant wouldn’t allow him access as he is approx 6ft 4in Irishman and quite overpowering for her on her own. She stated she had paid him December’s rent and would therefore not pay him again and he left. She has documented, signed monthly rental receipts for all payments to our appointed residential letting agent manager. She has never been asked to vacate the property or received any legal correspondence for non-payment etc.
My wife immediately emailed the Franchises Headquarters who told simply told us it is policy for a ten-day grace period of non-dialogue before they intervene. We told them we had not received two months rent from the franchise manager again and this is shortly to become 3 months bar a couple of days. We fear the franchise/company is going bankrupt and stealing revenue from one property under his management to pay another. The financial bubble is about to pop and we are likely to be continuing to pay for his client to remain in our property. It is not the fault of his client who has signed receipts for payment so and she is offering to pay us directly in order to maintain her occupation there. Her tenancy agreement expired last September and she has not signed any agreement documents since. I have not seen her tenancy agreement to check if it is simply rolling 6 monthly agreement.
I have instructed a Letting Agent Solicitor (On a one-off fee of approx £95) to dissolve the contract between us and the Residential Lettings Company franchise so that we can’t become liable.
What can I do as I believe this Letting Agent is acting fraudulently with our income? Do I involve the police or are likely to site this as a civil issue?
Sorry for the ‘War & Peace’ email but at least you can read just a little of what we have been enduring.
I look forward to hearing from anyone in the legal profession or anyone who has recent experience in assisting us in (a) Getting our property returned ASAP so we can market it and (b) Getting the lost revenue that this National Residential Lettings ‘Platinum Service' guaranteed us albeit under a franchise which the national company appears to be distancing itself from.