The tale of a tenant, a letting agent & a plumber…a landlord’s woe!

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The tale of a landlord's woe

I was having dinner out with the family whilst away on holiday the other night when the phone rang...four times from the same number. I had ignored the calls as a) I did not recognise the number and b) I was out having dinner in the evening, whilst on holiday with my family!

I then received a text message: 'call me urgently...Martin the plumber'

I had been dealing with Martin (I did not save his number clearly) for a few days after he became involved in a bit of a messy situation with a tenant and property of mine. The story goes as follows:

I got a call from Scott, who I had never heard of before but he worked for my letting agent - he asked me to speak to Martin the plumber, as there was an 'issue' with the heating and he felt Martin could explain it better to me...

I called Martin who told me the tenants were very upset - no heating and hot water. OK, no problem, you are there let's get it sorted I said

The problems appeared to be numerous and date back several months it seems...problems the tenants notified to the agent dating back to when they moved in last September (we are now in early January). I knew nothing about anything.

Cracked floor tiles, broken radiator, broken bath plug, exposed wires behind a wall socket, a single BT point, broken shower and now the heating / boiler problem...wow!!

The tenant was also so unhappy with the agent and it seems vice versa that communication was by text message only - the agent apparently refusing to call them back anymore!

It also seemed that around 20 different plumbers were called to attend to the boiler issue but none would attend - why?

The tenant had meanwhile been presented with an AST but after they had taken the keys to the property and moved in!!

The tenants had then apparently refused to sign the AST, as they were unhappy with the agent for failing to deal with the reported problems and their manner of doing so. They also alleged that the agent forbid them to contact me (the landlord) 'under any circumstances' (not on my instruction), did not have my contact details anyway (illegal) and had advised them that they 'did not want to trouble the landlord and waste their money on small matters in the property' (again not on my say so).

I was worried and concerned and had lots more questions by now - first of all - was the tenant's deposit protected?

I hastily spoke to the tenants. I listened. I empathised. I authorised a range of different essential works. I gave them my telephone number and email address and it seems reassured them...for now.

It was clear that I had a problem with my agent...

I spoke to Martin the 1 in 21 plumber that did attend site - apparently at the tenant's request and not the agent's...a bit of a clue there.

He advised me of what he thought the problem with the heating / boiler were, proposed a solution slightly less expensive than digging a long trench from the oil tank to the property and gave me his quote...expensive but unavoidable and part of the job of being a landlord to accept.

I authorised the works but a couple of conditions emerged from Martin the plumber: 1) payment on completion of works and 2) payment via the tenant. The first item was acceptable, the second was strange. The reason why Martin the plumber wanted payment via the tenant was that he did not want a bank transfer but a cheque instead...I mean who prefers cheques these days? Anyhow, I agreed on the proviso that the tenants also agreed and all was documented in writing...by this time the tenants had no hot water or heat for a day or two. It seems that Martin the plumber had bad experience of letting agents not paying him...and the word on the street was that my agent was particularly bad. The penny dropped!

OK, so we are moving forward, Martin orders the parts, the tenants are appeased and the threat of legal action abates...phew!

In the meantime, of course I contacted my agent...he claims to have been the saint and not the sinner in this situation but needless to say as a minimum accepted that he failed to get the AST signed before releasing the keys to the tenants, which in itself is a grossly negligent thing for a professional letting agent to do. He claimed not have known about some of the issues, others he said the tenant fixed on their own or were the fault of the tenant. Who knows the full truth but I do not really care - I had no awareness of the problems and the tenants were very unhappy and on the verge of legal action - against me!

I was absolutely mortified to be perfectly honest.

Fast-forward to that phone call during dinner. Martin called me at 8pm and said 'the tenants have not received any money from you'. Yes, that's right Martin I say - payment is due on completion right? He then said that he would not attend site at 8am the following day unless the tenant's had the money from me beforehand! OK, so first of all that is not what was agreed and your quote clearly states 'payment on completion Martin' and second of all - it is now 8pm, all the banks are closed, I am on holiday having dinner with my family and you say you plan to leave them for at least another day as they don't have the money in advance of the works from me?

Yes, it was a crazy situation...

Needless to say, solution-mode kicked in and whilst I was inclined to tell martin where he could shove his monkey wrench, I thought of my tenant's plight first and foremost...they were without hot water and heat for five days by now whilst waiting for the agent, a plumber to come, diagnosis of the problem and then the parts to arrive.

I duly told Martin that when I got home later that evening I would make the transfer to the tenant despite the fact it was not what was agreed (or regular) and take a screen shot of the transfer to send them as proof. Once they had this, they would contact our friendly plumber and let him know so that he would show up in the morning!

I could go on...there are more comical and dramatic events than a Shakespeare play in all honesty but I think you have a reasonable idea of this small insight into mine and the tenant's plight by now?

Needless to say, I also dropped Martin the plumber a text to say 'money transferred' - not a word of thanks but at least he went round the next day and fixed the heating for my tenants who had their first bath in just under a week that evening.

What a saga and what a relief!

Meanwhile, I am in the midst of changing my letting agent...I am following the former lettings manager from the old agent to his new agency. I never had any issues when he was working for the old agent and indeed he was the model professional - diligent and thorough.

The moral of the story?

Often it is individuals that ensure great customer service and quality...unless there are effective systems in place to take the pressure off individual mistakes and errors. Also, plumbers called Martin can at times be a bit of a handful to work with it seems 🙁

Normal service is slowly being resumed...

And that is the tale of a tenant, a letting agent and a plumber...the landlord's woe!