Beware the demon letting agents / Estate Agents

Manchester has loads of reasonably priced student accommodation and increasingly a glut of top-end flats and pads for the more affluent academic. In this section we focus on South Manchester, simply because that's where the majority of students choose to reside.This website for example has a complaint against one of them: philip james rentals.co.uk

Manchester Student Homes (MSH) is the Universities’ only official source of student accommodation in the private sector. Click here to visit our site
The Manchester Student Homes Code of Standards is a voluntary accreditation scheme for landlords and managing agents of student properties.Landlords who commit to the Code of Standards benefit from preferential advertising on our website and in our office.
Registering with MSH means much more than buying advertising space. When you register your properties, you are entering into an agreement to provide quality housing and follow good management practices. As a registered landlord you will be part of the MSH community, with the opportunity to participate in housing forums and keep abreast of government policy and developments relating to the private rented sector, as well as receiving impartial information and advice on all aspects of renting property to students.

Are "anonymous" really Philip James staff ?

Hahaha her......hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha! You sound like you were the worst tenant in manchester. The world would be a better place without assholes like you wasting everyones time. Bet you don't post this comment. By Anonymous

bet this comment supposedly posted on 22 December isn't even real!! you are a real loser! By Anonymous

Are you still going on with yourself?! See you can't think of anything new to say, so now you've just re posted the old stuff. Get a life dickhead! Do let us know what happens with your so called 'court case'...more like waste of everybodies time!! bet when you lose you still won;t stop will you because you are too sad to accept things the way they are. Bet you don;t post this comment. WHich means that you have no idea what you are doing and are the spineless idiot you come across as. Shame on you! I hope they absolutely tear you to shreds if it ever gets to court. By Anonymous   What these "anonymous" people are forgetting is that NOTHING is anonymous in cyberspace. There are many many trails left behind to the clever people in the world of IT Stay lucky it's a scary world out there Bridgfords – lettings – sales 731 Wilmslow Rd, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 6WF 0161 434 9719

Worst letting agents in Manchester, Didsbury and Stockport

Here are some more of Philip James claims "de-coded" for those of us that don't use estate agent double talk. You know like "handy for the airport" meaning " it's at the bottom of the runway - with 24 hour noise.


Laura Kilbride, 
" a combination of good customer service from us combined with the fear many tenants have of absent landlords. Tenants want to be sure when something goes wrong they’ll be looked after properly" -  Well if good customer service means having to sue them for your deposit back in the Court and being reported to the Police for complaining about it.
“And landlords choosing to have their properties managed by us are happier too –Who says so? Certainly, the landlord of the property I am suing over is hardly likely to be "whooping with delight" at the prospect of appearing in court, over something he has little or no knowledge about is he?


Stay safe out there - The sharks will bite you hard!!

philip james rentals.co.uk

Manchester Students and landlords are being targetted by Philip James

By Philip James - the self proclaimed lettings and estate agents of choice. The company is promoting itself via e mail, declaring how well it is doing on the behalf of students and landlords.

As usual with this type of unsolicited trumpet blowing you should probably stick it in your blocked senders and spam folder.

For landlords considering using this firm you should read this blog very carefully. The landlord of the property I had the Miss Fortune to rent from is named as a joint defendant on the current lawsuit. He probably did nothing wrong, however it is highly likely he will be called to court to give evidence.

At the moment landlords can probably get a great deal from most letting agents in Didsbury, Withington and the surrounding areas. Claims such as these (below) should be treated with caution - for example:


Laura Kilbride, Student Lettings Manager, Withington: “Properties managed by us have been flying out the door this year -  in the first six weeks of 2011 we’ve successfully let over 50% of our managed properties.


Can be interpreted as "in the first six weeks of 2011 - half of our managed properties are empty"  and as for properties "flying out of the door" could be interpreted as ----- Well you work it out.


Stay careful out there there are many perils and sharks trying to fleece you.

The complaints keep coming in about Philip james Didsbury

Even over the holidays we have been amazed by the number of people who have contacted us. Because of the sheer volume we are dedicating more staff and resources to assist you all. We are in the process of designing two brand new websites: trottersville.co.uk and philipjamesrentals.co.uk.

We aim to get these live as soon as possible, but in the meanwhile, please keep coming back here and using the "comments" section to get in touch. Some of your complaints have been forwarded direct to the relevant authorities.
For those of you with problems with Philip James, we hope to be having a "surgery" with our solicitor shortly.

Stay safe and take care

How landlords rip off tenants: deposit scam that means a lost pan can cost a fortune

After years of leaky roofs, dodgy heating and other Rising Damp horror stories, students seemed to have stumbled into every available pitfall when moving into rented homes.

After years of leaky roofs, dodgy heating and other Rising Damp horror stories, students seemed to have stumbled into every available pitfall when moving into rented homes.

But yesterday the costly scandal of disappearing deposits, which sees hundreds of millions of deposit money disappearing each year into landlords' pockets - and reappearing (if at all) after months of delays and obfuscation - was laid bare.

A fifth of private tenants complain that all or part of their deposit has been unreasonably withheld, according to a report by the housing charity Shelter and Citizens Advice Bureaux.

The organisations said £800m of tenants' money was swilling around the system without stringent controls on how it was controlled. They have compiled a catalogue of abuse by landlords who have taken advantage of the relative powerlessness of tenants and refused to return deposits for spurious reasons.

Tenants are often unwilling to pursue cases through the courts because of the cost, the time it takes and the need for a landlord's reference to secure sought-after new properties.

Tenants, often among the less well paid and unable to get a foot on the property ladder, can be forced into crippling debt or in extreme cases forced to become homeless.

Students are among the worst hit, with 35,000 facing a summer cash crisis because of the difficulties of getting their deposits back from landlords, according to the study.

Verity Coyle of the National Union of Students said: "The arbitrary holding back of students' deposits are unfair, done with very little accountability and adds to the financial pressures students are under."

Among the cases charted in the study is a tenant who was charged £850 for "cleaning carpets and curtains and a missing saucepan". A Methodist minister who relocated with his wife and three young children was landed with a £1,346 bill that included £1,000 for cleaning and redecoration. The bill was eventually withdrawn but there was no evidence that cleaning or redecoration was needed or had happened.

Two students, aware of the problems of dodgy landlords took photographs when they moved in and arranged for the flat to be professionally cleaned before they left. Five months were needed to get their £700 deposit returned. Other stories have included a £55 bill for a broken plastic towel rail and a £250 deposit withheld because of a hole in the wall made by a drawing pin.

"Too many landlords treat rent deposits as their money, instead of money handed over to them in trust," David Harker, the chief executive of Citizens Advice, said. "Many do not even bother to give tenants a proper reason for failing to pay it back."

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