LV Property - lvproperty.co.uk

I have been using LV property for around 2.5/3 years and in that time we have had constant issues with delayed payments. Almost every other month the rent would be paid late and I had to regularly call the office and chase payment - this was not down to the tenant paying late, but simply because the office wasn't organised enough.

There seemed to be a different member of staff every time I called, and it seems nobody stuck around for more than a few weeks at a time.

I put up with this because they were only charging me a small management fee (£25 p/month), and this was because the first tenants they got for me from their sister agency (I think it was called We Love Your Postcode) left after just a couple of weeks - and they agreed to find me some new tenants and reduce the "management fee". I put management fee in quote marks - because they didn't do a single thing over the tenancy term to earn their fee.

The tenants hated dealing with them and always contacted me directly.

I could put up with all of the above as the tenants always paid on time (the one or two occasions they were late, they advised me in advance as they were on holiday etc...)

The real problems started a few weeks ago as the tenants advised me they were moving out due to relocation to a different city.

When they asked about getting their deposit back, they were advised that they had signed up to a "Nil Deposit Scheme". Essentially what happened is because they are Polish and their reading/understanding of English isn't great LV property basically took a security deposit of them, but got them to sign an agreement that has "nil" next to the deposit! (I agreed to try and resolve the matter on their behalf as I had got on well with them, and when asking Jas - the owner - about it he admitted that they do use this scheme as a revenue stream.)

After the tenants had moved out, I did an inspection and noted quite a few things that needed to be repaired as follows:

The front drive-way and rear gardens had not been maintained at all during the tenancy and need to be sorted out.

The tenants had stuck a piece of cardboard over the vent in the living room (something I strongly rebuked them for when I saw it as there is a gas fire in the room and I couldn't believe that it wouldn't have occurred to them that it was very dangerous to block the air source!). When removing the cardboard the wallpaper ripped and needs to be replaced.

The tenants had painted the rooms blue, and these needed to be repainted to a neutral colour.

They had broken the switch of the cooker (as well as the connecting internal rod) and this needs to be replaced/fixed.

The cost for the work that I submitted to them came to approximately £750 - however I accepted that I could only be reimbursed up to one month's rent of £595.

I spoke to Josh at the office and explained that I hadn't got a written quote for the cooker as it would've cost me £25 to obtain this, and I had spoken to several companies who all advised me that it would cost around £100-£125 to repair. Josh advised me that a separate quote for the cooker wouldn't be necessary. In addition I hadn't got a separate quote for the torn wall-paper, but as the total cost was far exceeding the deposit levels anyway, Josh advised this wouldn't be required and he would ensure that my claim for damages would be processed a.s.a.p.

I submitted the claim on the 12th June - it is now 20th August - and I am still waiting!

In the meantime, despite numerous assurances from Josh that everything was progressing smoothly and that my payment would be with me soon, it soon became obvious that things were not ok.

After a delay of a couple of weeks, Jas then contacted me to say that he wanted to view some pictures of the property so could make his own assessment - despite me already having sent all of the images to Josh already! (Jas's excuse for this was that he needed them sent to his own email account and not the general company one that I had been communicating with Josh through...)

After several calls, emails back and forth and even visiting him at his office, he advised me that he was not going to release the security deposit.

To try and resolve this situation without having take legal action, I obtained another quote, this time itemising all of the work, and again excluding the cooker switch this came to £1250! (The quotation included some replastering to a small area of ceiling which is not part of the claim. I suggested to Jas that he could use whatever amount he felt was reasonable for this element and remove it from the quote.)

The new quote was submitted on 11th August - again to date I have not received a reply and unfortunately it seems like I will have to take legal action.

Cracking team at LV, they helped me sell my house within weeks! Highly recommend them to anyone looking to sell their property!

Thanks & keep up the the good work!