Estate agent lying about payment regarding repairs to my flat

CarineG

Sorry for the long story but I would really appreciate some advice on this.

I live in a leasehold flat.
On 2 occasions last year, the upstairs' flat had a leak with their washing machine. On both occasions I notified my upstairs neighbour. The leak was only fixed in July when it last occured however by that time my ceiling and walls were damaged and needed repair.

The upstairs flat is rented via an estate agent. They got a builder to inspect the works and give a quote but nothing was done because the owner of the flat 'apparently' has no money.

Finally things moved into the right direction. The estate agent informed me that the owner would pay for the works. However, it appeared that the couldn't get hold of the builder and asked me to do so (from my understanding the builders' sister was renting a flat through the agent and left it in a mess so they thought that this was the reason he was not returning their calls).

The agent asked me to contact Michael (the builder who seem a nice enough chap) and tell him that I wasn going to pay for the works myself which I did say. The agent promised to raise a cheque straight after the works are complete.

It has now been over a week and Michael has not received payment. After speaking to him I found out that the reason he did not want to deal with him is because they take 4 to 5 months to pay their builders. They have basically lied to me to get him to do the work.

I feel bad for him as he did a good job, on time and for less than he had quoted. I'm willing to pay him but I am concerned that I will not recup the money for the estate agent/upstairs flat quickly enough.

This is very much a dispute between the agent/landlord/builder, however there has been clear misrepresentation in this case. The builder would have never done the works had he know who was going to pay him.

I have emailed the estate agent and am planning a surprise visit to them tomorrow afternoon requesting the cheque is raised on the spot?

Is it a good course of action?

Emmzi

you said you would pay for the work. The builder now has a verbal contract with you. I think you have to pay him. Then I'd make a request in writing by recorded delivery, and follow up in 10 days by money claim online.

CarineG

Emmzi wrote: »

you said you would pay for the work. The builder now has a verbal contract with you. I think you have to pay him. Then I'd make a request in writing by recorded delivery, and follow up in 10 days by money claim online.

You are right, I did and I do feel bad that I fell for this trick. I should have known better this Estate Agent messed me around before.

Fire_Fox

You have a verbal contract with the builder so you must pay or risk legal action.The letting agents have no responsibility to pay either you or the builder as they do not own the flat, you have been dealing with the organ grinder and not the monkey. You must contact the leaseholder of the upstairs flat directly to resolve the issue.

CarineG

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You have a verbal contract with the builder so you must pay or risk legal action.The letting agents have no responsibility to pay either you or the builder as they do not own the flat, you have been dealing with the organ grinder and not the monkey. You must contact the leaseholder of the upstairs flat directly to resolve the issue.

I do understand that I have entered into a contract with the builder myself however what about the fact that my flat has been damaged and that the landlord has done nothing to repair my property?
Our managing agent has refused to give me the landlord's details, he only forwards my correspondence to them if need be.

If I'm struggling to recover the monies, can it be the reason for a claim with the small claim court?

olly300

CarineG wrote: »

I do understand that I have entered into a contract with the builder myself however what about the fact that my flat has been damaged and that the landlord has done nothing to repair my property?
Our managing agent has refused to give me the landlord's details, he only forwards my correspondence to them if need be.

If I'm struggling to recover the monies, can it be the reason for a claim with the small claim court?

Have you asked the tenant for the details of the landlord?

Have you asked the freeholder of your building for details of the landlord?

The estate agent doesn't have to give you the details of the landlord as they have no contract with you.

Also did you get it in writing that the estate agent would reimburse the cost of the repairs? You could have put it in writing to them and as long as they didn't contest it, then you have proof they would pay for the repairs. If not then the estate agent will deny all knowledge of agreeing to reimburse you.

Always deal in writing with people when you have issues like this.

In future put complaints to the leaseholder of the flat through your freeholder.

Most freeholds have clauses in them where leaseholders are not allowed to cause a nuisance to other leaseholders, and this includes leaks. You may also be covered by join block insurance for damage. If you are not then there may be a clause stating you can chase the leaseholder who caused the damage for the cost of repairs. All this depends on your lease contract.

Either way you need to write a letter to your freeholder sending it by recorded delivery listing all the damage that the leaseholder has caused to your property with the dates and the costs. Also include copies of any photos if you have them.

If subsequently you end up taking someone to court over the cost of the repairs this will show that you have done all you can to chase the monies owed to you without going through the court.

CarineG

No, I have not asked the details of the landlord from the tenant but that is a good idea, I will see if I can get it from him (if he has it, I think he deals mainly with the estate agent though).

I have asked the managing agent for the landlord's address before and they informed me that they we were not allowed to give me his/her details.

I did not get my agreement with the agent in writing, nor did I get my contract with the builder in writing, this was done as a gentleman' agreement.
I'm not very proud of myself here, after having studied contract law for the last 2 years, I should know better - lesson learnt.

I have written to the estate agent & freeholder regarding this issue before so I have a paper trail, however I should have recorded in writing the agreement with regards to the works.

I did try to get the works done on the building insurance (as recommended by the managing agent) however the cost of the works was slightly less than the excess therefore I could not claim.

Thanks for your advice. I will be sending recorded letters to the landlord, the freeholder and the estate agent. I have got all the dates, previous correspondence and photographs to substantiate my claim.

My lease clearly states that other leaseholders are not to cause nuisance to other leaseholders so I will be refering to this clause in my correspondence.

Thanks for the advice.

CarineG

I paid a surprise visit to the agent yesterday afternoon and it didn't go very well.

I enquired about why the builder wasn't paid to which I was told that the cheque went on Monday 2nd March. She could not show me anything confirming this (no letter, not cheque book or copy of the cheque she has sent).

She sent me an email in the afternoon (whilst I was on my way to see her) saying that if the builder had not receive payment (blaming Royal Mail of course), he could come into the office and she will raise another cheque.

When I saw here I asked her to raise another cheque on the spot to which she said that she has no authority to sign cheques and that the cheque book was not available (how come the builder can come to pick up payment if the cheque book is not on the premises?)

It seems like a blatant lie to me.

I informed the builder of the situation and he agreed to wait until Monday to see if the cheque turns up. He insisted that he will not be going into their office as he doesn't want to have anything to do with them.

I will be preparing correspondence this weekend. I was not lucky in getting a response from the tenant as to the details for the leaseholder of the other flat.

Would it be a good idea to copy my letter for the freeholder to the estate agent? and do the same for the one I am writing to the leaseholder of the flat?

CarineG

I paid the builder straight away and wrote a rather legal letter (by recorded mail) to our freeholder explaining the situation and asking him to pass my request for refund to the leaseholder of the upstairs flat.

I also emailed a copy of my letter to the leaseholder as I realised I had his email address. This quickly prompted him to call me and to assure me that he was going to make the payment to me. He had no idea of the situation with the Letting Agent.
Money was transferred today :T

Fire_Fox

Thanks for updating, and delighted to hear the builder and you both got paid!