Well, it's been an interesting few days.
The other day, I received a message on facebook from one of my ex-housemates in Leeds about a post I had made on a group called 'Leeds Landlord Blacklist'. The page just lets you discuss experiences you've had with the notoriously bad student landlords in Leeds, and warn others before they sign contracts with some of the worst shysters in the city. My post was in regards to my landlady from last year, and the things I had to put up with in one of her houses. It was very long and deatailed, with a 10-point list of things that had gone wrong, such as a hole in the roof for 3 months in winter before it was fixed; damp blamed on me not opening my bedroom windows, which I had open for as long as I could every day, bearing in mind that it was December; and the landlady forcing me to collect the rent owed by someone who decided to drop out of our house, rather than sorting it herself. Her excuse? 'He's your friend, I can't be bothered dealing with this any more'. Lovely. So I had to call and e-mail and eventually pick up a receipt of transferred money in Manchester, because she didn't believe me when I called and told her that he had paid. These are just a couple of examples, and I've left out some of the worst (theft at times when the only person in the house other than us tenants was her handyman, for one, and verbal abuse from the landladyfor another.).
When writing this post, I made sure that nothing I wrote could be said to be libellious. Everything was true, and I made no personal attack on her or her handyman, who I explicitly avoided accusing of any possible thefts. This was all written up around last September. Obviously, she has now seen the facebook group and my post, hence the message from my friend. This message informed me that the landlady was now blackmailing my ex-housemates, who are still living in the house. Currently, their washing machine is broken, as is a window pane in an upstairs bathroom. They were then told that until I took my post down there would be no repairs made, and if I still refused after that, then she would withold the deposits of £250 each paid by my 6 ex-housemates. Clearly, she has no legal grounding for making me remove the post, so she's resorting to means that are fitting for the level of humanity that she possesses.
As much as I hate the idea of giving in to this kind of threat, I felt that I couldn't refuse, as the money and sanitation of very good friends of mine were at stake. I removed the post, and I felt awful doing it. That's why I'm not going to write her name here, as I don't want them to get in any more trouble. However, you Leedsians might be able to figure out who it is if I give you some clues...
1)Drives around Hyde Park trying to steal customers from other agencies
2)Acts like she has no idea what is happening and is very disorganised (I think this is an act to throw you off guard and make you as agitated as she seems to be)
3)Her name sounds like Ribena.
4)She has a certain Spanish handyman to do all her dirty work for her
Now, I am going to go and make a cup of tea and calm down, because I've worked up a little bit of rage going over this again...
C xx
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