My experience of estate agents - Part 1: UK-side
2020-05-01 Comments
They feature up there, as one of the top hated professions of modern times: estate agents, bankers, politicians, journalists and parking wardens. They might jump around a bit but guaranteed, estate agents will always be in the top five. The reason I am bringing these shysters up (there are far more harsh words I could use, based on my experience but we'll keep it clean for this article) is by a friend's situation with her letting agent and tenant sabotaging viewings for the sale of her buy-to-let apartment. This brought back bad memories and experiences of my own letting agent, when we moved to Ireland. These are tales of frustration and how these middlemen do not add value but stress, high blood pressure levels and grey hairs.
All the bad things that happened to my friend, reminds me of the year of being a reluctant landlord. I was taken in by the head of lettings (Ronald), he looks like Henry Winkler (as he is now) with his persuasive sweet talk of looking after my flat and handling any issues so that I wouldn't be bothered. Well, funny how things didn’t turn out that way. Ronald found me 3 students - who turned out to be Divas from hell.
Just a few weeks into the tenancy, I had an email from the agent that the shower blew up and had to be replaced. They got a quote and I gave the go ahead for the job. Was this a sign of things to come? My husband and I reasoned, some of the things in the flat were old and probably due to breakdown any time soon, so accepted there might be some more items to go along the way and to be prepared to get the credit card at the ready.
A month later, the tenants were complaining about mould in the bathroom, which they cultivated by not airing it after they showered. I agreed to having the room redecorated and if the mould came back, the tenants would have to pay to have it redone. They agreed and I never heard a complaint about it again. Then shortly after that, they complained about the extractor fan in the bathroom. They were told by the handyman (who was there to repaint the bathroom) the fan needed to be replaced. The fan was old, so I agreed and awaited quotes.
Then further issues about mould arose, but now it was appearing in the bedrooms. I could understand the bathroom, but the bedrooms were unacceptable. I responded to the agent to have the tenants open the windows and keep the flat ventilated. After a few weeks, Ronald contacted me again saying the tenants were complaining the mould would impact their health. I told him, since I had never experienced mould in the bedrooms, the tenants needed to have the mould professionally cleaned and maintain the ventilation of the flat. He responded by saying there would be an inspection coming up and they would let me know what they find. I heard nothing from them past the date the inspection was due. Several emails I sent were unanswered and my calls were ignored. So what was due to be a 6 month inspection was actually carried out 9 months into the tenancy.
After I made a formal complaint for lack of communication from them, Ronald called me and downplayed how bad it was until I saw the photos. The mould was spreading from the point where the wall above the window frame joined the ceiling. He was making excuses for the tenants, saying because they were renting they tended to keep the doors and windows locked for security reasons. I told him they were on the third floor and the windows did not open fully for someone to climb in. But he put it down to the psychology of the tenants. After his call, this matter stayed quiet for some time, but I kept chasing on the outcome.
The next issue the tenants raised was about the fridge. Granted, the fridge was a very old one that I had inherited when I bought the flat over ten years ago - so it was due to conk out - but as always, the timing couldn’t have been better, it was racking up to be a scorcher of a summer. Ronald sent me a few like-for-like model options. I chose the one I liked and sent it back with the permission for the purchase to replace the old one. I didn’t get a response and called and left him a message to chase it. The next thing I know, Ronald sent me an email saying the tenants are looking to sue me because they are undergoing hardship with the hot weather without a working fridge.
I raised another formal complaint, forwarding my response for the purchase of a new fridge and how dare he pass the fault on me. I received a half hearted apology the following day, for missing my email in his flood of incoming messages. No excuses for the unanswered callbacks though. Also, within his response he said he told the tenants that as a landlord I didn’t have any legal obligations to provide any white goods and that I was doing it as a gesture of goodwill. I wanted to slap him. He could have used his powers of cunning on my behalf and dealt with all that aggravation, without having to drag me in there thowing me under the bus, but instead was reactive only after I defended myself and provided proof of his incompetence! It was very wily how he got himself out of it being his fault on both sides.
Anyways, that would not be the last of the fridge saga. It was a month later, after I moved back into the flat, that I received the invoice for the fridge but no details as to where to send the payment. I asked the agent’s accounts for their bank details. When I hadn’t heard anything I sent another email, but no response. One evening someone buzzed the intercom, he asked if I was the landlord and explained the fridge he delivered still needed to be paid for. I told him things were in hand - dealing directly with the agent - and he left. The next thing I knew was the fridge supplier’s managing director writing to me, to chase payment. I explained to her I was awaiting the agent’s reply and she was going to contact the agents. Later on that day, the agent sent me the invoice again along with their bank details. Since it was Friday evening, I left it to pay over the weekend.
The following morning, I got a knock on the door. Thinking it was my neighbour I opened it up to find the owner of the estate agents. His name was Owen, if you can imagine an evil teddy bear dressed in a linen jacket, over chinos with a smug look on its face, that was what I was greeted with. He said he was visiting another property nearby and decided to pop over and see me. He asked if I received the fridge invoice and if I was going to pay it. I was too gobsmacked and spluttered that I would and shut the door. What kind of tactics was that? I felt so aggrieved that I got it over and done with and paid it off online. But don’t think it ended there. I had another chase email a week later from the fridge supplier. I emailed the agent’s accounts and copied in the fridge supplier asking them why they hadn’t paid them. The agency replied saying the payment had gone out that day. The fridge supplier confirmed she received the payment the following day. That was the end of that.
I know it was a bit late in the day, but I did an internet search on this guy Owen and let’s just say that I couldn’t find anything flattering about him. Lots of reviewers on his business profile had moans about the staff not responding to emails. So it wasn’t personal, they ignored all their clients. Quite a few from tenants praising their services, about finding them places to rent very quickly, they’re not silly - they have to keep the money train going. One review of him and his business was from a buyer who tried to purchase their dream house through them, only to be told the seller decided to go with another party, at the last minute. The buyer looked online at the Land Registry only to find that Owen had swiped the property for himself and tracking the sale, said that he put it back on the market 9 months later for a huge profit!
Another search on his name brought up a news article about him being taken to court. You’ll never guess for what? It was for an unpaid bill - you couldn't make it up. He hired a recruitment agent who found him a temporary worker. But the member of staff was off work a lot and Owen refused to pay his agent. Owen lost his case in court and had to pay the bill, but on the way out of court he keyed the other guy’s car in the car park. Owen got caught and had to pay further damages for the car. Isn’t it a sad situation when it comes down to agent-on-agent violence? I felt a bit better after reading that story. I guess what goes around comes around.
Oh yes, let me mention the state of the flat when I got it back. The bathroom was grey with the the second batch of mould the tenants carelessly grew and the bedrooms were streaked with black mould. Not to mention the melted window sill in the kitchen where one of the master chefs decided to place a hot pot, I'm guessing to cool its contents. All in all, I would have been better off leaving the flat empty over the time we were in Ireland. Perhaps even leaving the door unlocked for the local junkies and homeless to stay, they probably would have left the place in a better state. I would have had less stress and aggravation.