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Lettings agency sued for £1.4m after harassment of tenant

A former City marketing executive is suing a lettings agency for £1.4m in a row over alleged harassment in 2010.

Agent Caroline Arundell - who died in 2014 - allegedly entered the home of tenant Wemimo Taiwo unannounced; Taiwo claims that the next day she was ‘under siege’ when Arundell and two bailiffs were in the property changing locks; this allegedly ended with Taiwo being locked in and having to be freed by police officers who broke down the front door.

London’s Evening Standard reports that Taiwo, who sued for compensation following the incident, is now guaranteed of a payout followed a decision by a High Court judge to uphold an earlier ruling that she had been the victim of harassment by the agent.

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The incident happened in Bath back in 2010 and apparently led to Taiwo having “recurrent depressive disorder and reaction to severe distress” leading to a breakdown and a recovery in the Priory clinic.

Bristol county court ruled in April that Taiwo was entitled to damages from Arundell’s agency - Homelets of Bath - and an appeal against the ruling, held recently, has been rejected.

At the Bristol hearing earlier this year Judge Christopher Sharp QC said the “rude, condescending and insulting” agent was “threatening to do things she had no right to do.” The judge went on to say that Taiwo was “effectively under siege” when bailiffs arrived “to intimidate” her.

The case will now go to trial to decide compensation, put by Taiwo’s lawyer at £1.4m.

You can see the Standard’s report here.

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    "The incident happened in Bath back in 2010 and apparently led to Taiwo having “recurrent depressive disorder and reaction to severe distress” leading to a breakdown and a recovery in the Priory clinic."

    Really???

    The agent may well be at fault but I'm struggling to give this much credence.

    S l
    • S l
    • 27 November 2018 14:44 PM

    Girls are the worst in lying n making up stories on being sick n most of the time, doctors rely on their words although they are lack of symptoms but the fact they went to doctor n hospital to make up evidence is despicable

     
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    All sounds very iffy

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    The next time my bank sends me a letter about going overdrawn I'm going to have a nervous breakdown and sue them for a million.

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    Do the three people who have responded really think that mental health is a laughing matter. Do you really think that to harrass a person until they reach that state is right?
    You should be ashamed of yourselves.

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    Rose while the agent overstepped the mark, how were the bailiffs intimidating her? The bailiff was only there to do his job ie collect on money owed. There is more to this story than we all know. While mental health is no laugh it’s also not something to use to get your own payday pay out which is what this looks like too

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    I am the retired co-founder of the agency now being sued as well as the former husband of Caroline Arundell. I must say that her reported behaviour and actions are entirely inconsistent with the kind and sympathetic personality of the person I knew. It seems grossly unfair that her reputation is being besmirched when she is no longer here to defend herself. I am absolutely astonished that the agency were clearly not encouraged by their legal team to seek a settlement of this case at the earliest opportunity following her sudden death in 2014.

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