Owner sues for £16,000 damages over tenant

Karen Menzies says Foxtons even gave the 22-year-old tenant a reference after she moved into her Chelsea flat, despite the agents knowing she had already wrecked a previous property.

The businesswoman is seeking more than £16,000 in damages after a four-year struggle to get the money from the estate agent, which had acted as agent for the one-bedroom home.

References from the tenant's previous address in Queensgate should have been presented before she moved in.

But Miss Menzies, 38, claimed she "acted in good faith" by giving her new tenant keys to the flat before the references arrived, having trusted Foxtons after using them on seven previous occasions.

But after Miss Menzies met her new tenant, whom Foxtons had described as "a single professional female", she immediately became suspicious, convinced she was on drugs and concerned about her reason for being in London.

Ms Menzies told the Standard: "The first time I saw her she was dressed in a cocktail dress and off her face. She said she had been to a 60th birthday party and not been to bed. She knew she'd pulled off a move she should not have. I walked out of the door, down the road and told Foxtons about my concerns and said I was convinced she was a prostitute. When I asked about the references they said they hadn't come across from her previous property. Later they said, 'Actually, it's going to be a Foxtons' reference'.

"I said that was unacceptable and asked why the reference wasn't from her previous landlord. After meeting her and seeing the Foxtons reference I could see that there was a problem."

Miss Menzies said the flat in Cathcart Road was badly damaged during the woman's stay and that she "worked unusual hours". She also found her collapsed in a drug-induced stupor on more than one occasion.

The woman, who did not pay any rent after handing over a month's rent in advance, eventually left after three months leaving a trail of damage behind. This included damage to a neighbour's property from a shower she broke, which Miss Menzies claimed she had used repeatedly despite being told not to. On one occasion, while dropping off something at the flat, Miss Menzies found an inventory checklist of damage and unpaid rent posted by her previous landlord that came to more than £6,000.

The £16,000 she is claiming includes rent, damages and loss of earnings incurred while dealing with the leaking problems caused by her tenant. Speaking from her Chelsea home, Miss Menzies added: "After trying to negotiate several times over four years I don't have any other option.

"I have offered to meet them, to look at it with fresh eyes, but they just don't see why they should pay. What kind of estate agent supplies references for a woman like this? I put my faith in them and was let down in such a massive way."

Miss Menzies said Foxtons had offered to refund the one-year commission on the rental and contribute towards legal costs incurred in evicting her from the flat.

A Foxtons spokeswoman said it was aware of Miss Menzies's complaint but refused to comment further.