Never trust a scouser

[sufcintheprem]

One of the people I was living with in Canada recently sent an e-mail to our agent asking what had happened to our deposit and got this response....

>Dear Gemma,
>
>Im delighted you've got in touch with me. I need very urgently to
>talk with you and all your travelling companions who stayed at
>Chalet AltaVista. I have previously talked with one of your group
>who refused to give me his or any of your groups phone numbers. Your
>group leader James Mortimer has been sent a copy of a law suit. I
>have a law suit that must be served upon you and every one else
>within the group. The only postal address that I have is for James
>address when he was at collage. I blatantly said three months ago
>that you would not be getting a return deposit and that I would be
>seeking further costs from you all. It is my policy that I will
>relentlessly pursue anyone who puts me in a legal predicament. It is
>imperative that you contact Nicholas Davies on 604-938-1763. He is
>the Lawyer handling that case in Whistler. He is looking for you and
>currently using a private detective here in the uk called 'coast to
>coast investigations.' I cannot believe you are oblivious to all
>this happening and am shocked that your contact is regarding a
>refund of a deposit. With this being a legal situation you may only
>contact me in writing. I WILL NOT discuss verbally and will use
>anything written as evidence. I suggest you get legal representation
>and make contact asap.
>
>Yours faithfully,
>
>Nick Bolton.

Ignoring the comedy spelling mistakes (including my mate's name), the fact that he says he tried to get all our phone numbers and says he won't talk to us and the fact that he has all of our contact details including home addresses and phone numbers from before we went out there, he really is a prize tool.

We cleared the state of the house with the landlord himself before leaving and he veen commented that we had been exemplary. The only other concern he may have had is sub-letting but while we had people staying, none of them paid us and I can't imagine there will be any evidence he can rely on here.

Probably the most hilarious part is that he says that private detectives have been hired tot rack us down. None of us have moved or remained particularly secretive and, as I mentioned above, we all gave him all our details so any investigator. Should have checked these first.

Now, the point is, what should we do about it? I seriously reckon he's throwing down a massive bluff to try and throw us off the scent and scare us off legal action. This should have been a poll really.

 

[Napster]

It's a bluff.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Ah yeah, also forgot to mention that he hasn't returned our security deposits. From 9 of us, that's £2250 so he has pretty good reason to not want us to take legal action.

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

I think its a wind-up.

 

[sufcintheprem]

I'm glad you agree. I would think it's a wind-up of the haha variety but for him being a nob before we went out and a nob most of the time we were there. Only think he did do was give us a sweet house but then I'm sure we paid over the odds for it.

The guy who he's supposedly got in is actually quite well connected politically in the town.

One thing I'm thinking of doing is flat out calling his bluff and phoning up his supposed representation. I'm sure the guy would be pleased to know if his name is being banded around in such a manner.

Another idea I quite like is to e-mail the local paper there. They love a good story down there and most people in the town read the letters section. If I drop his name in there as well as the name of the people we travelled with and the circumstances but dress it up as a warning to others, it would get back to him without giving anything away.

Either way, it's annoying what lengths we're having to go through to get our security deposit back.

 

[Hong Kong Blue]

I suspect its your mates winding you up, rather than the agent. Are you sure the e-mail is definitely from the agent? Presumably your mates know you think the agent is nob and that this is the type of thing he might try.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (Hong Kong Blue @ Sep. 07 2006,18:21)]I suspect its your mates winding you up, rather than the agent. Are you sure the e-mail is definitely from the agent? Presumably your mates know you think the agent is nob and that this is the type of thing he might try.

I'm pretty sure it's not.

The e-mail addresses involved are genuine enough and the girl who did the e-mailing isn't really the sort to have written it as a windup. Beyond that, it's only the people in the house who would have been able to develop any sort of a windup e-mail and I suspect I'm by far the least likely target as most people hold him in much lower esteem.

The language is also strikingly similar in style to the ones I received directly from his email address. Let's just say he wasn't the most professional in his dealings but by the time we realised this we were already financially bound. On the plus side he did actually leave us with somewhere to stay...

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

When you handed the house back, did you get any documentary evidence (e.g. a sign-off sheet) as to the condition of the house? Alternatively, who did the hand-back - the bloke who sent the email, or someone else? If the latter, would they be willing to make a deposition as to the condition of the house when you handed it back?

Otherwise, unless you've got someone who (a) is in Whistler, so it won't cost much to take this bloke to task; and (b) who has the time and energy to deal with this guy, who (from what you're saying) appears to know precisely what he's doing... then you're going to have a tough job getting that money back.

One to be chalked up under "lessons learnt". Never leave a tenanted house unless you have an agreed exit strategy - i.e. a piece of paper which sets out the condition of the property, any damage to be paid for by the tenants, and the amount of the deposit to be returned. If you don't trust the landlord, then make sure you have a third party present, and someone who would be unimpeachable in court or someone who would just be very useful - e.g. a mate of yours who is a lawyer, or a copper, or just very large...

Sorry - but that's how it looks from here, I'm afraid. I can't see you getting that cash back at all other than by issuing proceedings in Canada, and that's something you're unlikely to have the ability to drive forward with any great success.

As for his email... meh. Until you get court papers served on you, do nothing. If he continues to send emails like that, write back saying that unless he returns your money and desists, you will be alerting British police as to his behaviour, which in your opinion amounts to obtaining money by deception and/or fraud and/or extortion, and you will be asking them to contact Canadian police in order to deal with the criminal offence which you believe he has committed.

If he gets back to you after that, (a) I'd be amazed, and (b) go to the police. Extortion is a crime in any country, if that's what you think he's guilty of. I'm sure a call from the Mounties would sort that clown out.

Matt

 

[Smiffy]

E-mail the *******, and tell him unless he gives you back your deposit, you and your group will personally hunt him down and beat him senseless...

That would be my strategy anyway..

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (Smiffy @ Sep. 08 2006,10:48)]E-mail the *******, and tell him unless he gives you back your deposit, you and your group will personally hunt him down and beat him senseless...

That would be my strategy anyway..

Hmmm... never a good idea to put things like that in writing.

By all means phone him, having dialled 141 first, and tell him that your mother's maiden name is Gotti and that Uncle Louey, who's from Chicago, fancies a trip to Whistler. And that Louey will be taking some friends with him, capp-eesh...

 

[SARF]

Just leave it to fester till your next trip to Whistler..
Then the day before you leave track him down, beat him to a pulp and nick his watch..

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ Sep. 08 2006,10:19)]When you handed the house back, did you get any documentary evidence (e.g. a sign-off sheet) as to the condition of the house? Alternatively, who did the hand-back - the bloke who sent the email, or someone else? If the latter, would they be willing to make a deposition as to the condition of the house when you handed it back?

Otherwise, unless you've got someone who (a) is in Whistler, so it won't cost much to take this bloke to task; and (b) who has the time and energy to deal with this guy, who (from what you're saying) appears to know precisely what he's doing... then you're going to have a tough job getting that money back.

One to be chalked up under "lessons learnt". Never leave a tenanted house unless you have an agreed exit strategy - i.e. a piece of paper which sets out the condition of the property, any damage to be paid for by the tenants, and the amount of the deposit to be returned. If you don't trust the landlord, then make sure you have a third party present, and someone who would be unimpeachable in court or someone who would just be very useful - e.g. a mate of yours who is a lawyer, or a copper, or just very large...

Sorry - but that's how it looks from here, I'm afraid. I can't see you getting that cash back at all other than by issuing proceedings in Canada, and that's something you're unlikely to have the ability to drive forward with any great success.

As for his email... meh. Until you get court papers served on you, do nothing. If he continues to send emails like that, write back saying that unless he returns your money and desists, you will be alerting British police as to his behaviour, which in your opinion amounts to obtaining money by deception and/or fraud and/or extortion, and you will be asking them to contact Canadian police in order to deal with the criminal offence which you believe he has committed.

If he gets back to you after that, (a) I'd be amazed, and (b) go to the police. Extortion is a crime in any country, if that's what you think he's guilty of. I'm sure a call from the Mounties would sort that clown out.

Matt

I probably didn't make it very clear. The only guy we dealt with directly to orgainse it is based in England, specifically Liverpool. This is the same one who is saying that he will not return our deposit. I wouldn't be too convinced by his expertise on the matter either. He doesn't seem particularly well informed and further checks on his comapny and the one that is supposedly investigating us revelaed that both were dissolved in 2005.

This guy doesn't own the house though. There are four parties, the landlord (who we have an excellent relationship with), the landlord's agents in Whistler, our agent in Liverpool and ourselves.

I believe we actually handed the property straight back to the landlord and bypassed the agents completely and IIRC, he actually gave us written confirmation that the house was in good condition when we lost other than one or two things that we sorted out with him rather than calling in anyone else.

I actually have a lot of faith in our landlord. He lived in the apartment below so he can testify to the quality of our character and behaviour. On top of that, he was very sound about pretty much everything. Even when we built a ramp and were doing jumps off it in the backyard rather than tell us to keep it downa bit, he told us how to make better jumps and landing spots!!

Another thing that is relevant due to it being of a legal nature but irrelevant in as much as this guy should have had no interest in it is that the guy next door was a lawyer and had started legal action against our landlord for the behaviour of the tenants over the last three years. Looking through the list of offences given by this guy, I can safely say none of them were from our tenancy. I actually sympathised with him because he did buy the house expecting it to be a quiet neighbourhood and then had this lively place next to him. Still, as tenants we would no doubt be involved in that action unless we can prove otherwise. We almost certainly can but this might have been one reason behind this guy's actions.

One more thing, I do have one or two contacts in Whistler still although none of the tenants live there

Oh, also, I do like the sound of the other suggestions too. Could be a road trip to Liverpool if plan A fails...

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Ahh, that makes it much easier:

1. Find the letter you already have from the landlord, or get another one from him, stating that the house was handed back in a good condition.

2. Email a copy of the letter to the Scouse agent, with a covering note along the lines of:

*Here's our proof that we handed back the house in tip top condition... signed by the landlord.

*Give us our money back in full within 7 days

*Or else we're going to the police with your email and we shall ask them to investigate you immediately for extortion.

Sounds pretty straightforward to me.

Matt

 

[Smiffy]

Why don't you represent sufcintheprem and his group MtS!!??..

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

They couldn't afford me.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ Sep. 08 2006,13:35)]They couldn't afford me.

So true

Although one of our party's brother is a Cambridge graduate working for some big law firm down the West Coast of America so hopefully he'll do a bit of Pro Bono....

Cheers for the tip, I'll circulate it around the group. Do you rekon the facts that:

a) his company is dissolved (I believe it was an LTD) as of last November.
b) there was some legal action brought on an entirely different issue (by the neighbour)

Will make any sort of impact on our case?

 

[Stats]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ Sep. 08 2006,13:35)]They couldn't afford me.

Surely this is some form of discrimination mts!!

How do you know whether or not SITP can afford you?

Sure they may have to sell all they have but I'm sure they can afford you

Dont worry about that dodgy scouser SITP and a couple of thousand, sue mts he's worth much more

I'd go for his country retreat in Berkshire, the 2 small hawaiian islands & his butler

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Sep. 08 2006,13:44)]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ Sep. 08 2006,13:35)]They couldn't afford me.

So true

Although one of our party's brother is a Cambridge graduate working for some big law firm down the West Coast of America so hopefully he'll do a bit of Pro Bono....

Cheers for the tip, I'll circulate it around the group.  Do you rekon the facts that:

a) his company is dissolved (I believe it was an LTD) as of last November.
b) there was some legal action brought on an entirely different issue (by the neighbour)

Will make any sort of impact on our case?

Sadly, quite possibly. If you paid your money to his limited company, then your chances of recovering it are remote to nil.

Matt

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (statski77 @ Sep. 08 2006,13:55)]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ Sep. 08 2006,13:35)]They couldn't afford me.

How do you know whether or not SITP can afford you?  

I'd go for his country retreat in Berkshire, the 2 small hawaiian islands & his butler

Because he just said so.

Besides, I only afforded the country retreat after ensuring I got a massive bung when I arranged your transfer from SUFC to SZFC....

As for Hawaii... tsk, tsk. Far too gauche. Summers in the Western Isles, winters on my Fijian retreat. Marvellous.

 

[DTS]

Sure its a load of b******s....

my suggestions is called the lawyer he is quoting and see if

a) they exist
b) they are working for him

If the answer if "Yes" slam down the phone and delete the number.

Also "Coast to Coast" detective has no internet site which makes me dubious.

DtS