An absentee landlord has claimed on national TV that she was conned out of £7,000 when her letting agent moved his own wife and family into her property.
The story of Imelda Salajan, 57, now living in Chelmsford, Essex, was featured this week on Rip Off Britain.
Viewers were told that she had instructed Essex Lettings, in Harlow, to manage the rental of her four-bedroom property in 2012 while she worked as a journalist and communications expert in Indonesia.
Little did she know that agent Stuart Clark had been seen by neighbours moving his wife, children and pets into the home in Epping.
The woman is alleged to have then failed to pay her around £7,000 in rent.
Now, while undergoing treatment for a brain tumour and having split from her husband, Ms Salajan has been forced to sell the house after she was left unable to meet mortgage repayments.
“I don’t want anybody else to suffer what I have suffered,” said Ms Salajan, who has worked to train journalists in conflict zones across the world, including Bosnia.
“I don’t expect to see the money again because he’ll do anything he can to avoid it, but I think it’s more important that the police look at this and see if there is a way they can stop it happening to other people.”
Ms Salajan, who began her career as a reporter in Chelmsford, had been working in Indonesia for 14 years when she employed Essex Lettings to let out and manage her property, and for the first 12 months there were no problems.
Then in January 2012 she was contacted by Clark who informed her that new tenants would be moving into the house.
But six months later Ms Salajan claims more than half the rent went unpaid.
Clark is said to have repeatedly assured her that this was only a temporary problem which had been promptly solved, and deposited one month’s rent into her account, minus his management fees.
Yet months later, and with more cheques missing, Ms Salajan was contacted by neighbours who said that her agent had moved his partner, children and dogs into the property.
It is now thought that members of the family were living in the house until October 2012, during which time Ms Salajan claimed on the TV programme that they “absolutely destroyed the place” causing damage totalling about £3,000 with painting on the walls, and dog mess left behind.
She says that her attempts to approach Clark at the agency, which has now ceased trading, were met with denials and a refusal to discuss the issue with her.
“I left his office feeling really hurt as he had no intention of doing the right thing.
“He hasn’t even apologised, or attempted to pay me,” she told her local paper.
Following a diagnosis in 2013 of lung cancer, and just months later a brain tumour, Ms Salajan is now unable to work and has been forced to sell the property to pay off the mortgage and rid herself of debt.
She now lives alone in a house in Chelmsford while recovering from major surgery and chemotherapy.
Despite contacting Essex Police, Ms Salajan was told the case did not warrant a criminal investigation, and the best course would instead be civil action, a route she has been advised by friends not to take.
Ms Salajan’s story was broadcast in ‘Rip Off Britain’ on BBC One on Tuesday and is available to view on BBC iPlayer.
Read more at:
Here it is on BBC iPlayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04jtkkr/rip-off-britain-series-6-episode-7
How can the police say it doesn't warrant a criminal investigation? Fraud, deceit, deception, theft are just a few words easily associated which normally involve police action. These are the type of fraudulent unlawful 'agents' who drag the reputation of the entire industry down – And I bet they are still trading. Disgusting.
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