Suing my Estate Agent

caela_2

Hiya guys,

Would appreciate any help on the following if you can. Basically, long story short, we lived in our last flat for over 3 years (it's been a year since we moved out). During that time, a significant condensation mould problem had been painted over so we were unaware of it until it took hold of the property. It was confirmed it was pre-existing and the fault of the estate agent (faulty bathroom extractor fan, etc.). So it took a year before they finally agreed (after we got Environmental Health in) to fix it. It was all over the ceilings and ruined some of our stuff and the decorating we had done. It was just stressful and embarrassing to live with and we ended up sleeping in the lounge, the least affected room. I got a chronic and very annoying skin problem called Dermatographic Urticaria (where I'm basically allergic to touch). It itches like mad and drives me crazy at times and most of the time it looks like hives. My boyfriend had contact dermititis too when we were there but it cleared up, although he missed some work. I can't prove it was because of the mould, only that high humidity exasperates it and might trigger it. I also suffer from mental health problems and you can imagine that didn't help.

So that's not all they did, obviously the neglected nearly all of the maintenance issues until a severe headache had been had over it and various threats had been made. They then failed to fix a front door locking mechanism which meant we were often unable to use the front door, the only entry/ exit to the building. The council advised they have a maximum of 1 hour to fix such an issue. They left us with it for over 3 months before we finally moved out and fixed it then.

They also misrepresented the property to us, hiding the mould and also propping up several broken pieces of furniture to make it look furnished. So I want the admin fee back and the difference between a furnished and part-furnished property which an estate agent told me is approx. £12.50 and the cost for me having to remove all the broken furniture at £6.08 (min wage for 1 hour) per item.

My question is with the mould, because it was misrepresented to us and limited our use of the property can I get the whole year's rent back (the period of min contract and the time we had mould) or just part of the rent back? Under misrepresentation, we are due financial compensation for what we were mis-sold, e.g. a year's contract at the address. Also, aside from a return of the rent, what can we claim for personal compensation for emotional and physical distress resulting from the persistent mould and our time constantly calling them and other people to sort it out?

We have evidence also in the form of videos, photos, correspondence, Dr's reports, etc. Thanks everyone

caela_2

Oh and the contract was an AST for 1 year with £525 deposit, monthly rent of £425 and admin fee of £150. My boyfriend and I were the only tenants.

GDB2222

You need to speak to a solicitor about this. No, you are not entitled to all your rent back. Yes, you may be entitled to some damages for health-related issues.

barnaby-bear

caela wrote: »

Hiya guys,

Would appreciate any help on the following if you can. Basically, long story short, we lived in our last flat for over 3 years (it's been a year since we moved out). During that time, a significant condensation mould problem had been painted over so we were unaware of it until it took hold of the property. It was confirmed it was pre-existing and the fault of the estate agent (faulty bathroom extractor fan, etc.). So it took a year before they finally agreed (after we got Environmental Health in) to fix it. It was all over the ceilings and ruined some of our stuff and the decorating we had done. It was just stressful and embarrassing to live with and we ended up sleeping in the lounge, the least affected room. I got a chronic and very annoying skin problem called Dermatographic Urticaria (where I'm basically allergic to touch). It itches like mad and drives me crazy at times and most of the time it looks like hives. My boyfriend had contact dermititis too when we were there but it cleared up, although he missed some work. I can't prove it was because of the mould, only that high humidity exasperates it and might trigger it. I also suffer from mental health problems and you can imagine that didn't help.

So that's not all they did, obviously the neglected nearly all of the maintenance issues until a severe headache had been had over it and various threats had been made. They then failed to fix a front door locking mechanism which meant we were often unable to use the front door, the only entry/ exit to the building. The council advised they have a maximum of 1 hour to fix such an issue. They left us with it for over 3 months before we finally moved out and fixed it then.

They also misrepresented the property to us, hiding the mould and also propping up several broken pieces of furniture to make it look furnished. So I want the admin fee back and the difference between a furnished and part-furnished property which an estate agent told me is approx. £12.50 and the cost for me having to remove all the broken furniture at £6.08 (min wage for 1 hour) per item.

My question is with the mould, because it was misrepresented to us and limited our use of the property can I get the whole year's rent back (the period of min contract and the time we had mould) or just part of the rent back? Under misrepresentation, we are due financial compensation for what we were mis-sold, e.g. a year's contract at the address. Also, aside from a return of the rent, what can we claim for personal compensation for emotional and physical distress resulting from the persistent mould and our time constantly calling them and other people to sort it out?

We have evidence also in the form of videos, photos, correspondence, Dr's reports, etc. Thanks everyone

I assume you mean letting agent. The agent is the *agent* of the Landlord. Your contract is with the Landlord NOT the agent, the agent is just htat the agent of the Landlord. As such you have to pursue the Landlord.

Regarding the furnishing - you should have agreed and signed an inventory and agreed this at the start. You can not dispute the level of furnishing at a later date without proof of some agreement on contents and their condition. If broken stuff was not on the inventory you should have raised the presence of the "rubbish" at the outset on the inventory and given the landlord the chance to rectify.

You might be able to get a small proportion of the rent back for the cost of rectification if you spent money e.g. dehumidifiers and cost of running but generally it is unlikely to be much. In terms of personal damages/injury - unlikely... why did you stay 3 years? A court will question it was so bad if you chose to stay. This long after I suspect it would be tricky to have a case.

caela_2

barnaby-bear wrote: »

I assume you mean letting agent. The agent is the *agent* of the Landlord. Your contract is with the Landlord NOT the agent, the agent is just htat the agent of the Landlord. As such you have to pursue the Landlord.

Regarding the furnishing - you should have agreed and signed an inventory and agreed this at the start. You can not dispute the level of furnishing at a later date without proof of some agreement on contents and their condition. If broken stuff was not on the inventory you should have raised the presence of the "rubbish" at the outset on the inventory and given the landlord the chance to rectify.

You might be able to get a small proportion of the rent back for the cost of rectification if you spent money e.g. dehumidifiers and cost of running but generally it is unlikely to be much. In terms of personal damages/injury - unlikely... why did you stay 3 years? A court will question it was so bad if you chose to stay. This long after I suspect it would be tricky to have a case.

Hi,

The agent is who we were dealing with, not the landlord. They are the ones who lied to us about the property and who didn't keep up with maintenance. If they want to contact the landlord they can do that, but it's mainly their fault in my eyes.

The original inventory, I should have mentioned, which we got only after we signed contracts, noted the items of furniture also saying there were broken. At the time of viewing they had been propped against things and had items in them so you couldn't see holes or disrepair.

The reason we stayed is as for the first year, with it being the first place I had rented myself, we were constantly given excuses and I didn't want to have to move, I'd rather get it sorted. We liked the location and my boyfriend was at uni, moving was too much at that time. We didn't have the money or time for it. After it was fixed, we stayed for another few years because that was the main problem and as far as we were concerned it had been cleared up. The locking mechanism was at the end of our tenancy and at that point, I had enough and did move out.

caela_2

GDB2222 wrote: »

You need to speak to a solicitor about this. No, you are not entitled to all your rent back. Yes, you may be entitled to some damages for health-related issues.

Hiya,

I was wondering under the misrepresentations act (think it's called) if we enter into a contract under misrepresentation (had we known about the mould, we would not have moved in) and we suffered financial loss as a result, we are entitled to it back. E.g. admin fee. The mould was so extensive we often only had use of part of the house, so I know we can get part rent back at least. I was wondering more about suing for inconvenience and stress- even the health matters- cos how can you put a price on that?

I know you can sue for these if they are involved with harassment, which harassment for eviction is a part of. They withheld a lot of the maintenance and when we moved out (we withheld rent so they would fix things as a last resort and they gave us a section 28), they fixed everything for the new tenants and put the price way up. I believe they were trying to harass us into moving by delaying repairs so that they could charge more, which is a crime. It also entitles us to compensation for personal stress under harassment. But how do you put a price on it?

barnaby-bear

caela wrote: »

Hi,

The agent is who we were dealing with, not the landlord. They are the ones who lied to us about the property and who didn't keep up with maintenance. If they want to contact the landlord they can do that, but it's mainly their fault in my eyes.

The original inventory, I should have mentioned, which we got only after we signed contracts, noted the items of furniture also saying there were broken. At the time of viewing they had been propped against things and had items in them so you couldn't see holes or disrepair.

The reason we stayed is as for the first year, with it being the first place I had rented myself, we were constantly given excuses and I didn't want to have to move, I'd rather get it sorted. We liked the location and my boyfriend was at uni, moving was too much at that time. We didn't have the money or time for it. After it was fixed, we stayed for another few years because that was the main problem and as far as we were concerned it had been cleared up. The locking mechanism was at the end of our tenancy and at that point, I had enough and did move out.

It doesn't matter you dealt with the agent, the contract is with the landlord.

You should have dealt with the broken items and inventory at the time (4 years ago). It's your responsibility to check and dispute. If it said they were broken you can be sued for removing them if you agreed they were there!

The misrepresentation argument is about a viewing 4 years ago after which you renewed many times.... I doubt you'll get far .... likewise harassment is one persons word at the end of the tenancy a year on....

caela_2

barnaby-bear wrote: »

It doesn't matter you dealt with the agent, the contract is with the landlord.

You should have dealt with the broken items and inventory at the time (4 years ago). It's your responsibility to check and dispute. If it said they were broken you can be sued for removing them if you agreed they were there!

The misrepresentation argument is about a viewing 4 years ago after which you renewed many times.... I doubt you'll get far .... likewise harassment is one persons word at the end of the tenancy a year on....

I already spoke to them at the time and had email confirmation I could remove the items, I'm not stupid lol. I did raise it at the time, they didn't deal with it. Hence I am brining it up now as part of the whole claim.

I didn't renew the contract after the first year, it went onto roll over. The mould had been fixed by then. The harassment is documented by email evidence and video footage of the damages.

caela_2

Does anyone know how to work out compensation for personal distress if we were living with the mould and how you work out compensation for health problems?

TrickyDicky101

Have you actually spoken to a solicitor yet about your chances and what form redress might take? Given the time-scales involved, I strongly suspect any chance of compensation is going to be remote or at best uncertain.

barnaby-bear

caela wrote: »

I already spoke to them at the time and had email confirmation I could remove the items, I'm not stupid lol. I did raise it at the time, they didn't deal with it. Hence I am brining it up now as part of the whole claim.

I didn't renew the contract after the first year, it went onto roll over. The mould had been fixed by then. The harassment is documented by email evidence and video footage of the damages.

Did you tell them you'd be charging them 4 years later when you asked if you could dispose of them? You stayed though which suggests it wasn't that bad - the LL will argue it wasn't.... the recompense will be a small fraction if you are successful - small claims is your best bet to do it cheaply for recovering the cost of replacing items damaged, electricity to run a dehumidifier but the time and cost may well not be worth while. A personal injury claim would be expensive and unlikely to succeed, you'd need to do that through a solicitor. The LL may argue that the rent was already discounted to reflect the condition, demonstrated by the now increased rent and hence you had the compensation. The LL may also argue you didn't ventilate or dried clothes in the lounge etc and it will be hard to prove.

I think the timing of the claims are so long after the event that you'd be hard pushed to prove anything.