langdon
13-08-2010, 16:32 PM
I have a dispute with a letting agent who managed my property. They are seeking payment for work carried out to my property and are threatening legal action if this payment is not made. The issue is that the work that was agreed was only partially carried out as I walked away from the agreement and carried the repairs out on my own accord. I did this as the agent had delayed the repairs by over 3 months and mislead me on the progress when I chased. This resulted to loss of rental income for 8 months during which I was left with paying the mortgage from my pocket.
find below background on the situation and specifics as well as the questions I have and advice I need
The agent placed the tenants in my property under suspicious circumstances. They moved into the property before I was able to clear it up and prepare it for them after the previous tenants had left. The kitchen and bathroom were in a state that no self respecting person would want to live in and the front garden had a 5ft high pile of junk that was waiting to be cleared. Despite this the agent said the family had moved in and were happy. We were not introduced to the tenants. After about a year, got a call from the agent that the house had caught fire and tenants had ran off. They were apparently using the property to grow weed and other narcotics. The insurance didn't pay out as the property was being used for illegal purposes. I had and still have suspicions that the agent was affiliated with the tenants. In addition to the strange circumstances under which the tenants moved in, there were many pointers leading up to the fire which I picked up on. For instance, each time we asked to visit the property, the agent would say the tenants were on holiday or unreachable. On one occasion we were told they were on holiday but when we visited the property, the lights were on and a guard dog was heard barking from inside and nobody answered the door. We left a note for them to call us and the following day the agent got in touch saying we should not have gone without running it past them (suggesting the tenants were in the house and informed the agent of our visit). This is one of the few signs that lead me to think the agent was affiliated with them and had placed inapproprite tenants in the house. Unfortunately by the time I suspected the agent of possible wrong doing, the house had caught fire.
The cost of the repairs were too much for me to meet. The letting agent offered to take ownership of repairs and putting the property back to market including all paperwork, legal work, new kitchen, new bathroom, new carpets and place new tenants. We had a verbal agreement to split the cost in half and settle it once the property was back on the market. They agreed to meet half because I asked them as a favour. In reality I blamed them for the fire and wanted them to share the burden of the costs. I was given an eta of 3months to get the property back on the market. 3 months down the line, after numerous chasers, I was told the progress had stalled at the point where the energy providers had visited the site to assess how much it would cost to re-instate the power. They provided a quote for the work required and needed payment for that in order to proceed. I asked the to meet the payment as I couldnt afford it and that we would settle the bill at the end, as agreed. They agreed and confirmed they would proceed with the payment. Another 3 months later, after a lack of updates from the agent, I visited them to check on the progress. They said that all the repairs had been completed, including the new kitchen, new bathroom but that the carpet and electricity was outstanding. For the latter they said they had paid the cost of the work and were waiting on the energy provider to supply a date when they would visit the site and carry out the work. They estimated another 2 months of wait for a date. I had doubts about what I was being told. I asked for a copy of the original quote by the engineer and the keys to my property. I called the energy supplier to enquire why there was such a delay. Their response confirmed my suspicion. Contrary to what the agent had told me, the payment had not been made and the quote had expired as a result. Further, they said that they had not supplied an eta of 2months for an engineer visit, contrary to what the agent told me. the most they said would be a 4 week wait. I queried this with the agent, who played dumb and it was clear they had sat on the quote for months without progressing it. They said they would "re send" the payment that same day and get a date from them for the work. The next day I called the energy supplier and again they said no payment had been made. I then visited the property to check the repairs had been carried out as I was told. I was shocked that it hadn't. The kitchen had not been replaced nor repaired, neither had the bathroom. The carpets had been ripped out. The boiler was damaged and not replaced/repaired. There was a gas leak and all the furniture and curtains had been removed. The only work that was noticeable was the walls had been repainted and a bay window replaced (which was smashed by the fire brigade to enter the property). In addition, I found numerous "final notice" letters from the council and utilities, chasing myself (as the property owner) for unpaid bills. These letters dated back 4months or more. It was clear they had not stuck to our agreement, did not take ownership of the repairs and lied about the progress.
Concerned that I was being taken for a ride, I decided to not pursue the agent and take matters into my own hand. I did not notify the agent that I had taken this decision. I paid the energy provider the money required to get a date and they confirmed one within 4 weeks. In that 4 weeks, I carried out all repairs necessary, gas leak, boiler, rewiring, replaced all furniture, curtain etc and finally enlisted the property with a known letting agent. I also had to go on a mission to clear my name with the utility providers, council etc to avoid having CCJ against my name and bailifs looking for me at the property. After 8 months the property is back on the market with a tenant and I can finally stop paying the mortgage from my pocket.
The former letting agent has since discovered what has happened. They wrote to me stating I was liable for the full cost of the repairs that they quoted to me at the beginning as I had not stuck to the agreement. They further went on to say that if I didn't make the payment within 10 working days, that they would take legal action to recover the costs.
1) Can they take legal action to recover the costs for a verbal agreement that was not written down and not signed by both parties?
2) If they can, would the court likely decide in their favour given the circumstances? Note that they are seeking the full costs of the repairs despite having carriout virtually none of it. I am confident they will be able to forge invoices for so-called work that would ammount to the full cost they are seeking. as that is the nature of their business ( i have come to know).
3) Can I counter sue them for the fire incident on the basis that they did not manage the porperty responsibly i.e did not make regular site visit because if they had, the would have come accross the unmistable smell of narcotics and weed growing equipment. I would go as far as accusing them of being affiliated with the tenants given the way the enlisted them and offered to own the repairs without asking questions.
find below background on the situation and specifics as well as the questions I have and advice I need
The agent placed the tenants in my property under suspicious circumstances. They moved into the property before I was able to clear it up and prepare it for them after the previous tenants had left. The kitchen and bathroom were in a state that no self respecting person would want to live in and the front garden had a 5ft high pile of junk that was waiting to be cleared. Despite this the agent said the family had moved in and were happy. We were not introduced to the tenants. After about a year, got a call from the agent that the house had caught fire and tenants had ran off. They were apparently using the property to grow weed and other narcotics. The insurance didn't pay out as the property was being used for illegal purposes. I had and still have suspicions that the agent was affiliated with the tenants. In addition to the strange circumstances under which the tenants moved in, there were many pointers leading up to the fire which I picked up on. For instance, each time we asked to visit the property, the agent would say the tenants were on holiday or unreachable. On one occasion we were told they were on holiday but when we visited the property, the lights were on and a guard dog was heard barking from inside and nobody answered the door. We left a note for them to call us and the following day the agent got in touch saying we should not have gone without running it past them (suggesting the tenants were in the house and informed the agent of our visit). This is one of the few signs that lead me to think the agent was affiliated with them and had placed inapproprite tenants in the house. Unfortunately by the time I suspected the agent of possible wrong doing, the house had caught fire.
The cost of the repairs were too much for me to meet. The letting agent offered to take ownership of repairs and putting the property back to market including all paperwork, legal work, new kitchen, new bathroom, new carpets and place new tenants. We had a verbal agreement to split the cost in half and settle it once the property was back on the market. They agreed to meet half because I asked them as a favour. In reality I blamed them for the fire and wanted them to share the burden of the costs. I was given an eta of 3months to get the property back on the market. 3 months down the line, after numerous chasers, I was told the progress had stalled at the point where the energy providers had visited the site to assess how much it would cost to re-instate the power. They provided a quote for the work required and needed payment for that in order to proceed. I asked the to meet the payment as I couldnt afford it and that we would settle the bill at the end, as agreed. They agreed and confirmed they would proceed with the payment. Another 3 months later, after a lack of updates from the agent, I visited them to check on the progress. They said that all the repairs had been completed, including the new kitchen, new bathroom but that the carpet and electricity was outstanding. For the latter they said they had paid the cost of the work and were waiting on the energy provider to supply a date when they would visit the site and carry out the work. They estimated another 2 months of wait for a date. I had doubts about what I was being told. I asked for a copy of the original quote by the engineer and the keys to my property. I called the energy supplier to enquire why there was such a delay. Their response confirmed my suspicion. Contrary to what the agent had told me, the payment had not been made and the quote had expired as a result. Further, they said that they had not supplied an eta of 2months for an engineer visit, contrary to what the agent told me. the most they said would be a 4 week wait. I queried this with the agent, who played dumb and it was clear they had sat on the quote for months without progressing it. They said they would "re send" the payment that same day and get a date from them for the work. The next day I called the energy supplier and again they said no payment had been made. I then visited the property to check the repairs had been carried out as I was told. I was shocked that it hadn't. The kitchen had not been replaced nor repaired, neither had the bathroom. The carpets had been ripped out. The boiler was damaged and not replaced/repaired. There was a gas leak and all the furniture and curtains had been removed. The only work that was noticeable was the walls had been repainted and a bay window replaced (which was smashed by the fire brigade to enter the property). In addition, I found numerous "final notice" letters from the council and utilities, chasing myself (as the property owner) for unpaid bills. These letters dated back 4months or more. It was clear they had not stuck to our agreement, did not take ownership of the repairs and lied about the progress.
Concerned that I was being taken for a ride, I decided to not pursue the agent and take matters into my own hand. I did not notify the agent that I had taken this decision. I paid the energy provider the money required to get a date and they confirmed one within 4 weeks. In that 4 weeks, I carried out all repairs necessary, gas leak, boiler, rewiring, replaced all furniture, curtain etc and finally enlisted the property with a known letting agent. I also had to go on a mission to clear my name with the utility providers, council etc to avoid having CCJ against my name and bailifs looking for me at the property. After 8 months the property is back on the market with a tenant and I can finally stop paying the mortgage from my pocket.
The former letting agent has since discovered what has happened. They wrote to me stating I was liable for the full cost of the repairs that they quoted to me at the beginning as I had not stuck to the agreement. They further went on to say that if I didn't make the payment within 10 working days, that they would take legal action to recover the costs.
1) Can they take legal action to recover the costs for a verbal agreement that was not written down and not signed by both parties?
2) If they can, would the court likely decide in their favour given the circumstances? Note that they are seeking the full costs of the repairs despite having carriout virtually none of it. I am confident they will be able to forge invoices for so-called work that would ammount to the full cost they are seeking. as that is the nature of their business ( i have come to know).
3) Can I counter sue them for the fire incident on the basis that they did not manage the porperty responsibly i.e did not make regular site visit because if they had, the would have come accross the unmistable smell of narcotics and weed growing equipment. I would go as far as accusing them of being affiliated with the tenants given the way the enlisted them and offered to own the repairs without asking questions.