A Dundee letting agency has narrowly avoided police action after a legal row with an elderly widow.
Belvoir Dundee was ordered to pay retired IT professional Melody McKay Burton £2,300 after a tribunal upheld a litany of complaints about the handling of a property she rented out.
The letting agency was responsible for managing the Dundee property on behalf of Melody and her late husband whilst they lived overseas.
However, in January she took Belvoir Dundee to a tribunal alleging they had not complied with the code of practice for letting agents.
Among the complaints raised were:
- Failing to inform Melody that her tenants had given notice until after they had moved out
- Had not carried out inspections
- Had not kept records of management activity
- Did not attend to possible repairs
It was also alleged that despite “frequent and numerous emails and telephone calls” to Belvoir, they “did not reply or reply in a meaningful way”.
Speaking to The Courier, Melody said she decided to sell the property after discovering the tenants had moved out.
“The first thing was that I didn’t get notified from Belvoir until after the tenants had moved out”, she said.
“But I then decided to sell the property so I asked my solicitor to have a look at it and they said it needed one or two things doing.
“So I got a company to do it and they discovered there had been a leak in the bathroom for quite along time. It ended up being quite serious.
“But Belvoir hadn’t got a report of the damage so I couldn’t send it to the insurance.
“To cut a long story short, I wrote a complaint and still nothing happened so I took it to the tribunal.”
Belvoir Dundee ‘totally unprofessional’
Belvoir Dundee did not engage with the tribunal but were subsequently ordered to compensate Melody for the financial loss she suffered as a result of their conduct – which was described in the judgement as “totally unprofessional”.
However, Belvoir failed to pay in time – and the tribunal ruling said the matter would be referred to police.
Failure to comply with a letting agent enforcement order is a criminal offence.
However, after The Courier approached Belvoir a representative from the agency contacted Melody saying the money would be paid imminently.
Belvoir subsequently confirmed they had made the payment.
Speaking about the tribunal process, Melody added: “At the time, it was very stressful.
“I’m 76 and I had to drive up from Cambridgeshire, where I’m currently based, up to Dundee. It’s a long way.
“And you just feel helpless and I had several sleepless nights over it wondering what was going to happen.
“I would much rather get paid and put it behind me.”
Police Scotland said they have yet to receive a referral for the complaint.
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