pete1977

I live in essex but own a property up in Yorkshire which i was letting out through a letting agent.Come november the tennants moved out and i decided to sell the house.It transpired shortly after that the old tennants had not repainted the house back to the original magnolia,which was part of the contract,but left some hideous colours all over the walls aswell.I spoke to the letting agents about this and they told me they would sort it out.A week later THEY phoned my wife and told her the house was back to the original colours.Nice one we thought.We received a phonecall a few weeks later from the estate agents telling us that they thought the colours were putting off buyers .It turns out the letting agency had just blatantly lied,they hadnt bothered there ***** painting it.I phoned them and threatened them with legal action as i need to sell my house pretty quick,but the woman told me that they were dealing with the Army as it was an army couple who were the tennants.I told her i didnt give a **** about the Army my contract was with them and it is them who should sort it out.The letting agents then promised me the house would be sorted in 7 days.Exactly 7 days later somebody went to view the house ,and her main gripe about the house?Yep,the colour of the walls.The letting agents have just lied to me again so now ive got to travel all the way from essex to yorkshire to repaint my own house that i payed a letting agency to look after .
Ive decided im going to invoice the letting agency for my time spent painting my house which ive no doubt they will not pay.Could anybody tell me where i stand legally?Small claims court?
Ive had a mate have a quick look at the house and she says it is absolutely filthy,im well ****ed off
They are called WARD HORNE and they are based in either catterick or richmond and they are lying scumbags!

2000TLondon

Take lots of photo's mate, then get a solicitors letter off to them (even if you type it yourself!!) and don't forget to invoice for travel time, petrol, wear on car and charge same rate as a pro decorator.

pete1977

What would a pro charge for the painting of the whole inside of a house?2 days work i reckon.

scoobynutta555

I wouldnt fancy painting a whole house in two days! How many walls need painting? If the colours are that bad then youll need undercoating or a few coats. Suppose the best thing to do is call around for some rough quotes and use that as a guide.

pete1977

Not sure how many walls exactly,i havent seen the house for 2 years .Im going up early thursday morning and hope to be done by saturday morn,and ive got a little helper aswell.what about this:
£600 labour
£??? materials
£70 travelling costs
Does that sound too much/too little?
On brighter note,i get to rag my new Fireblade all the way up there

scoobynutta555

Get a good roller with an extention pole and youll be well away. Sounds like an ok amount of money, but as mentioned earlier, get photos of everything before work is done.

You might notice that other work needs done while you're there in person too unfortunatly

The Zohan

Letting agents should have taken a deposit which i doubt they have let the tennant have back if the house was not right. how about asking for the deposit back and get someone else local to repaint it?

The letting agents sound like real ****es!

pete1977

Thats what i dont get with the agents,they gave the tennant the deposit back before they even looked at the house .They havent even bothered to go and check if the tennants had damaged the house .I really feel like burning there offices to the ground.
So im gonna go up ,do what needs doing,send the invoice along with a photocopy of the small claims form that i will file if they dont pay up,does that sound about right?

2000TLondon

Did you have buildings and contents insurance for the property?

Was there an insurance policy for renting the house out?

If so, they should cover it and you can employ someone to do it!

If not, charge 50% more than what you think is right as it will give you a negotiating advantage, and if you get more out of them, they deserve it!

Smiler

Looks like the armchair lawyers are out

Was this your first let? Why choose an agent that looked after the deposit? It should be handed over to you.

Have you put your complaint in writing? To the MD? If it was part of the contract to repaint the house then the egents should of enforced this, deducting from the deposit if necessary. Are they a member of ARLA? Are you a member of a Landlords Insurance?

Typing a solicitors letter yourself isn't a good idea

You won't be able to claim the same rate as a professional decorator... because you aren't one.

If time isn't on your side then simply decorate the place yourself, and then bill the letting agent for materials and a sensible daily rate (that will be a yorkshire daily rate). Travel costs won't work as you could of employed someone locally. Write, don't phone, when doing this.

If you can afford to wait then get some quotes and then take it up with the agents.

My advice would be do it yourself, try and get costs plus from the agent, but be prepared to put it down to experience.

To 2000TLondon. If you find such an insurance then let me know as I would be seriously interested