Scrooge in Didsbury, Philip James Partnership, Student lettings

Jingle Bells are not ringing if you want your deposit back from these guys. Clause 3.12 was again (wrongly) quoted as a reason not to give me my deposit back - in another letter (from yet another) employee at this place. 

At least I have not been arrested and imprisoned by miss-fortune or her colleagues yet.

Jingle Bells, give me my cash back

Philip James Lettings - The letter from miss fortune - complain and you go to Prison

You can click on the letter to enlarge it, I intend to take you through it as well as an open reply to miss fortune.
In Para (1) miss fortune refers to a campaign of harassment and abuse. She means - I have had the cheek to issue a summons in the civil court to obtain my deposit back.
In Para (2) miss fortune confirms that she has once again wasted Police time pursuing what they told both of us is a civil matter. The first time she claimed I was stalking her. I have never met her or been anywhere near the Didsbury office. I wouldn't know her if I fell over her!
In Para (3) If she is confident she will defeat me in the court, why doesn't she leave it to the Judge?
In Para (4) miss fortune really goes to town. Here she tells me that if I continue to publish my blog and distribute my leaflets, I will be sent to Prison for six months.
In Para (6) She strongly advises me to drop my court action and my public broadcast of their unlawful withholding of my deposit.
Finally, in para (7) she claims to have been nothing but professional with me - This includes (in her own words) reporting me to the Police twice, the first time for stalking. Threatening me with six months imprisonment for using my right to free speech and peaceful protest. These people are probably used to getting their own way with their bluff and bluster. If they are going to prosecute and imprison me DO IT!! Please stop your threats and intimidation IT WON'T WORK!!  Give me my money back!!

Otherwise, leave it to the courts as the Police advised you!!

And to all you nice readers, be very wary who you deal with and keep coming back.

Considering a rental from Philip James Didsbury?? BEWARE!!

You should always choose your letting agent with care. My experience with this company has been horrendous. Trying to extort money for "admin" (£150) this was to ring someone to clean a cupboard, although they haven't replied to my letter.

I have now had to issue a County Court summons to try and get my deposit back. They keep relying on tiny clauses in the contract to delay repaying me any money.

Their staff in Didsbury - namely Danielle Beswick and her angry sidekick Nadine Fortune appear to be in control of the illegal withholding of deposits.

The directors seem unwilling or unable to intervene.


This story will continue until we reach trial, or they repay my stolen money.

There is so much more and leaflets are being prepared with the full details. In the meantime, choose you rental with great care.

Students in Manchester are particularly vulnerable to poor practice. If you have had a similar experience with this firm please post comments or contact me.

Here is some advice from shelter:

What if there is a dispute about getting my deposit back?

Your landlord or agent is only entitled to keep all or part of your deposit if they can show that they have lost out financially because of your actions, for example, if you have caused damage to the property or you owe rent. Ask your landlord or agent for a breakdown of the specific costs that they are taking out of your deposit. Your landlord or agent cannot keep your deposit to cover putting right normal wear and tear. There are rules on what costs can be deducted from your deposit.
if you cannot agree, the dispute will usually go to the county court.

Dirty tricks of the estate agent

by SEAN POULTER, Daily Mail

Rogue estate agents are acting unlawfully and using blatant lies in their efforts to sell properties, a study finds today.
Undercover investigators discovered one agent trying to get a buyer to increase their offer by falsely telling them another, higher offer had been made.
Others said they would not pass on details of a buyer's bid unless they took out a mortgage through their company's finance arm.
Both scams are illegal under the Estate Agents Act but with fewer than one in three agents signed up to the industry's voluntary code of conduct, there are few checks on such practices.
Complaints to the ombudsman rose by 16 per cent last year to 6,462 - but many see this as the tip of the iceberg.
The Consumers' Association, which carried out the probe, is now calling for an official government watchdog for the industry.

The group uncovered serious breaches of the law and widespread use of complex, misleading and potentially illegal contracts.
Ten home-owners put their properties on the market, each requesting a valuation from three agents.
Researchers then posed as buyers to see how the agents handled their inquiries and whether they acted honestly and professionally.
Many agents tried to push buyers into arranging a mortgage with a company connected with their agency.
They earn large commissions from securing such deals, but buyers rarely get the best deal this way.
Agents are also supposed to pass on all offers promptly in writing to the seller. However, only two of the six agents who received offers did so.
Others passed on the details over the phone and they often delayed or provided too little details about the interest of the buyers.
The researchers found that many of the contracts issued by estate agents to sellers were littered with unfair or misleading clauses.
These included clauses guaranteeing an agents payments of thousands of pounds even if they made no marketing effort and the property is sold by another company.
Pete Tynan of Which? magazine said: 'Estate agents don't have a glimmering reputation and nobody would be shocked to discover that some of them are pretty hapless.
"But we found something more - estate agents using contracts with unfair small print and even some who were prepared to break the law.
"The worrying thing here is that there is no systematic way to prevent the types of unfair contract and breaches of the law that we have come across.
"The Estate Agents Act obviously isn't working and most agents we looked at weren't even following the basic provisions of the law."
The Office of Fair Trading is currently investigating the industry and is due to publish the results of a yearlong inquiry in the next few weeks.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-182688/Dirty-tricks-estate-agent.html#ixzz1Bp5Xd3li

Estate agent reveals dirty tricks

Katherine Barney, Evening Standard

A disillusioned former estate agent has blown the whistle on underhand tricks of the trade.

Pav Sheen says he was so outraged by what went on behind the scenes that he wants to warn others before they buy or sell their properties.
During his time as an estate agent in London Mr Sheen says he saw several dubious tactics, including colleagues undervaluing properties to sell them to each other at a lower price. He also said he witnessed people taking cocaine to 'psych themselves up' before making a sale.
Other tricks included arranging two viewings at the same time and, after one potential buyer had left, getting the office to call pretending to be that buyer putting in an offer.
Mr Sheen, 25, from Gerrards Cross, is still in the property business but now helps consortiums find business investments. He said: 'I went into the business completely oblivious to what went on. It was very obvious it was a way of life and people blindly went along with it.
'We'd be told we'd lose our job if we didn't comply and an estate agent's basic wage isn't very much so if we didn't play along and make the sale we would lose out.'
Eventually Mr Sheen said he found the corruption too much, especially when it came to taking advantage of buyers who had put their trust in him. He said: 'The most vulnerable people are first-time buyers at the lower end of the market because they're really in the hands of the estate agent.'
Mr Sheen has written a book, Tips, Tricks And Traps. He initially intended it as advice for his cousins who were buying a house but what began as a series of pointers soon grew to more than 100 pages.
He spent more than two years as an estate agent, first working for a big chain in Harlow, then in Walthamstow and elsewhere in north and east London. He is planning to launch a website, www. IHateEstateAgents.co.uk where people can share their experiences.
Under home information packs legislation, all estate agents who handle packs must be regulated by an ombudsman which can award up to £25,000 compensation against offending agents.
As a result, since June, 80% of agents have joined the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme. Agents who fail to join are breaking the law and could be prosecuted, fined and banned from operating.
10 ways they cheat
1. Gazumping. When a deal has been agreed some agents still show people around the property hoping for a better offer.
2. Value a property at a low price - and then sell it to a friend or colleague.
3. Use scare tactics such as pretending to receive offers to get people to make a higher offer.
4. Neglect to pass on all offers to vendor in hope of achieving a higher one later on.
5. Refuse to reduce commission if the price is reduced.
6. Overvalue houses to secure business from sellers.
7. Supply customers with fake documents to help them secure a mortgage.
8. Make up a very low offer. This shocks the seller into accepting a genuine offer which is far lower than the original valuation.
9. Fake evidence that other properties in the area have sold for an overly high price.
10. Erect for sale/sold signs at homes the agent had nothing to do with to give a false impression.

Philip James and Didsbury Police

I have been contacted again today by the Police at Didsbury. The officer was very polite and once again confirmed that the ongoing dispute I have with this agent is a civil matter.

I did apologise on behalf of Philip James staff for wasting Police time. They appear to be complaining that I am bullying them. May I suggest they stop harassing the Police who have far more important things to do.

They should either refund my stolen deposit money, or issue the injunction and have me imprisoned as they threatened previously.

Otherwise, please grow up!! 

Customer fears estate agents £55,000 fraud

A fraud investigation has been launched into a suspected scam at an  estate agents which a customer fears has wiped out her life savings.

The first-time buyer fears she has lost the £55,000 she had put away for her children’s future.
West Midlands Police confirmed today officers were investigating two suspected frauds concerning the former Bairstow Eves Countrywide office in Darlington Street, which was being run independently by director Dalvinder Pannu and employee Manjit Gill.
The mother-of-two said she made three payments totalling £55,000 to buy outright a house in Bate Street, Lanesfield, when the franchise was trading under the Bairstow Eves Countrywide name.
She had been offered the house at the reduced price in return for a quick sale, completed in 56 days.
The Wolverhampton College lecturer, who asked not to be named, said she was assured she would be reimbursed in full if the sale did not go through.
She lost out to a higher bidder but says today she is yet to receive a penny back, around a year later.
The 36-year-old said: “I went to Bairstow Eves in the belief I was dealing with a big organisation — I felt safe and felt secure with them, and I am absolutely distraught.
“I was not aware the company was a franchise — this was not some small backstreet estate agents.
“I was putting my trust into what I thought was a professional company.
“Manny Gill even insisted I paid the money into a Bairstow Eves account which reassured me.
“I had saved £30,000 of my own money over 15 years and the other £25,000 was borrowed from family members. I will have to pay that back.”
Bairstow Eves Countrywide has completed an internal investigation.
It found the franchisee had claimed bogus company Crown Repossessions was conducting the sale, when in fact Crown Mortgage Management Ltd was the seller.
Ms Pannu and Mr Gill are named in a letter to the complainant which states: “Our view is that you have been the unfortunate victim of a professional scam.
“You have, quite rightly, reported the incident to the police. We will of course co-operate fully.”


Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/12/01/police-probe-estate-agent-in-fraud-claim/#ixzz1A0SU26pj

Cheryl Cole in Didsbury?

Well it's a bit cheesy I know, but if it got you reading all good and well. If she was looking to move to Didsbury she would choose her letting agent or estate agent very carefully.
Make sure you do the same

Happy New Year