Harcourts Rip-off Rental Agents
On November 2008 I contracted
Leanne Griffiths, Harcourts Strategic Property Management Ltd , Ellerslie,
Auckland to provide tenants for a property I was in the process of transfering
to my name.
The property was still in the old owner's name so the tenancy agreement was
done in his name. This was done with his agreement and he gave me power of
attourney to manage affairs regarding this property
As I was paying a mortgage on this property I needed tenants to avoid
defaulting and thought that a registered agent would guarantee good tenants.
Yeah right!
Yeah right!
The agent, Leanne Griffiths put a tenant in the property with no bond, false
name, false contact details and more animals than agreed on.
Not only that but left them there for several months rent free.
To add to that, when they finally left there was no property inspection and no
mention made off the $800 worth of damage caused by the tenants while they were
their. (see separate list and quote) Despite a tenancy tribunal and court order
the arrears must be paid nothing has been received. To add insult to injury
Melanie Griffiths now wants me to pay them to recover the money owing. Because
the court ordered the money to be paid to the agent I can do nothing myself. I complained
to the real Estate Institute only to be told that they don’t want to know and
to take the agent to court. What a pack of crooks........
The tenant’s name according to the agreement was given as Jennifer Allison,
employed by Wassabi Advertising Ltd , Newmarket. This was also the name given
to the tenancy court and subsequent court order to pay arrears. At the
beginning of the tenancy Leanne Griffiths assured me that the “tenant” came
with good references. Although I asked to see these references I never did.
The reason?
The tenant's name was actually Karen Fleur Burnard and she was a WINZ
beneficiary (364-607-629). She allegedly told the agent and the court she was
living by herself but she was actually living with Craig Brennan Cullen also a
WINZ beneficiary (290-882-912). This name and the address (17 Rimu Road,
Mangere Bridge) was also found on discarded mail.
Along with evidence that this person was living at the house I noticed that only
one double bed was in use.
No wonder they just walked away from the court order! My question here is why
did the agent not know this (or perhaps she did).
We are about to start court proceedings against Leanne Griffiths, Harcourts
Strategic Property Management Ltd and are in the process of assembling our case
so invite input from the various parties.
Letter
of complaint Criminal behaviour, still considering court
action.