A man with a grudge against agents went on a revenge spree by cutting down more than 100 boards.
Anthony Bennett, 39, went out in his van two nights running and used a Stanley knife to hack down the signs.
He was angry because he had lost his entire £1,100 deposit over a stained carpet, and blamed agents Mark Boulton & Co in Greater Manchester.
He had lost his job and, after losing his home, became temporarily homeless and had to sleep in his van. He was also raging because of having to pay bedroom tax on his new property, a council flat, and decided to get back at estate agents across the Rochdale area.
He targeted several agents in his quest for revenge, and the boards he cut down and took away included dozens of For Sale signs. One firm lost 50 boards at £22 each, and four other firms lost 60 during Bennett’s two-night campaign.
The total damage was £2,000 before Bennett handed himself in to police, admitting he had targeted six different locations.
At Bury Magistrates Court, Bennett admitted theft. He said he had expected to have lost a “reasonable amount” from his deposit to cover the stained carpet, but not the whole lot.
He was ordered to pay £500 compensation to four firms and was given a three-month community rehabilitation order. A six-week curfew between the hours of 9.30pm and 7am was imposed and his van was impounded.
Magistrate Stephen Griffiths told Bennett: “Estate agents might not be the most popular of people but they have lost money and you are going to have to pay them. You caused them considerable loss.”
Comments
OK guys please don't take this as a blatant advert.
But Virtual boards that's what you need.
Digital projections that you can run from your website. That way no more sledges, no more vandalism and you can change them over from for sale to sold at the flick of a computer keyboard.
Our programmers are working on them as we speak. obviously a bit pricey to start with but once you have the system in place you will never have to pay out for a board again.
50 boards at 22 quid that's £1100 Hmmm our virtual boards system would pay for itself in two years.
This idea came about because my last tenant used the to let board which I'd paid for, to board up the kitchen window he broke when he threw a tea cup through it.
OK guys don't take this as a blatant advert.
But Virtual tenants, that's what you need, digital projections you can run from your website, no more carpet stains etc etc.
The deposit goes to the LANDLORD, not agent.
I'm gonna email this to another agent that keeps knocking boards down
We get lots of boards disappearing overnight in our area - I always thought it was other estate agents being naughty...
try http://www.mugi.co.uk/
EA boards are an ideal source of colourful twin wall used to make model aircraft.
As Hawkeye (and any other seasoned agent) will rightly point out, the tenant SAYS he was charged £1,100 for a stained carpet, but that's just his side of the story.
We dread the snow as so many boards go for temporary sledges.
Tenant is moaning over what? A stained carpet! I bet it was more than the stain he admits he was out of work so how much arrears of rent did he have to pay out of the deposit?
Look to your agreements and put a clause in that allows a payment to you the agent if you have to visit a second time if there is extra cleaning etc to deal with. You make an inventory check, put things right and return - stupid you if you dont get paid.
Thing is why do us agents get the blame??!! What do we get out of it??!! - that's right NOTHING!!
Any monies kept back are forwarded to the landlord, who in this case, probably had to change the whole carpet!
Thanks
We get lots of boards disappearing overnight in our area - I always thought it was other estate agents being naughty...
Perhaps not!
But then again, you know who you are!
stains ain't stains. We are selling a house for a landlord, who had managed his tenants privately. The stains on the living room carpet & the stairs looked as though oily boots had walked there for years. The ex tenants claimed it was just mud from the garden, yeah right. They had a go using rented carpet cleaning machines, it was awful. We and teh owner both sent in specialists who said they had tested the stain, did not know what it was but would be unable to remove it. The owner retained the £600 bond and paid out £1500 for new carpets.
I presume the £1,100 stain in this article was impossible to remove too.
The agent retained the £1,100 deposit just because of a stain to the carpet !!!
Wish I could get away with that for my Landlords or perhaps it was just a very big room with a very expensive floor covering.
Did the tenant complain to the ombudsman or the scheme overseeing the deposit ???