Has anyone ever had the unpleasant experience of taking their letting agent or landlord to court?
We recently moved into a new flat that we found through Copping Joyce (DONT USE THEM!). Everything was fine up to the day we moved in. We had a very nice agent who found the perfect place based on our requirements we asked for when we began the search. We even got a break on the price because the flat needed a LOT of work; it was previously occuped by three college girls who destroyed the flat during their nonstop parties, including holes punched in the walls, rubbish everywhere, broken blinds and appliances including the hob and fridge/freezer. The agent promised to take care of everything before our move in date. We signed the lease three weeks before our move in, so they had plenty of time to take care of the problems.
On the day of the move-in, we had our walk-through with a freelance home inspector hired by Copping Joyce. We were all surprised to see that many of the problems had not been repaired, most importantly, the broken fridge that was inoperative. The flat was painted and semi-clean and the walls had been repaired. But the broken appliances and blinds remained. He walked with us to Copping Joyce and they promised to take care of the problems. In the meantime, we checked off and signed the inventory list, which included a fridge/freezer unit.
Fast forward a week later, we came home from work to discover that workmen had come and installed a new fridge. Great! But THERE IS NO FREEZER! They replaced the broken fridge/freezer combo with a large, hotel-style mini bar fridge. How the hell am I supposed to make ice or freeze meat and ice cream? We immediately brought up the issue, thinking they made a mistake in ordering.
NO. The landlord says because the LAST TENANTS broke the freezer because they failed to defrost the unit, he does not want a freezer in the unit again. That's right: the landlord is juding our POTENTIAL behavior based on the bad experience he had with the LAST TENANTS. For the record, we're a married, child-free couple in our late 30s, not party-clubbing college kids.
I spent two days trading calls and emails with the property manager. She and the landlord are absolutely refusing to budge on this issue. They say ice is a LUXURY and not required. I say we live in the 21st century and ice is a necessity for everyday use including treatment of burns and injuries. To make it worse, the itimize sheet we signed only says "fridge unit" but does not clarify that it is a combo fridge/freezer unit.
I argue that Copping Joyce is guilty of discrimination for judging us based on previous tenants behavior. They have broken the lease because we rented the flat based on an amenity which no longer exists. They never gave us any prior notice about this bait-and-switch. The lease states that the landlord is responsible for maintenance and replacement of any appliances so long as the damage was not caused by the tenant (in other words, the previous tenant should have been charged the costs of replacing the fridge/freezer with a LIKE unit, not a sub-standard dorm-style fridge).
So that's my case in a nutshell. On top of that, they still have not repaired numerous problems in our flat including the broken blinds, broken hob ignition, or the door buzzer, which for some reason rings in the flat above ours!
So my question is: what is our recourse and rights as tenants? How much would it cost to get a lawyer? More than the cost of a freezer? I know this may seem petty to contemplate suing over a freezer. But darn it, it's a matter of principle.
