Blundells, a trading arm of Countrywide Residential Lettings Ltd provided a ‘fully managed property service' for us over the last 3 years, charging 10% of the rental for their services. We were led to believe that they would ensure our property (previously our home) was being well looked after by the tenants while we were out of the country, or at least advise us otherwise. The property was always (according to Blundells/Countrywide) ‘well maintained and looked after', but 3 years and 2 tenants later, we have had hundreds of pound's worth of belongings stolen, and thousands of pounds worth of damage caused to the property. Not knowing the true extent of the damage towards the end of the last tenancy, we asked my brother to organise some ‘freshening up' decorating. The subsequent film he took of how the last tenants were living, was shocking. Curtains were closed, a window blacked out, it was filthy, and the mould-spread in this, a modern property, was remarkable. The first tenants stole a wardrobe, bedside cabinets, bar stools, rugs and televisions. Blundells accepted the tenant's excuse that they gave them to charity, because the' Landlords told them they could'. We ‘won' second hand value from their tenant bond, but it was nothing compared to the true cost of replacement. With the second tenants we had over £500 costs to clean our semi- detached property to make it fit to live in. The toilets were irretrievably blackened by limescale build up, the carpets were irretrievably stained, 11 lightbulbs had blown, wooden worktops ruined, lots of breakages Mould assessment and remediation costs alone were over £1600. The mould extended to every upstairs UPVC window and cill, affecting curtain linings and decorations Every report Blundells/Countrywide did (most of which we had to insist upon) reported the house as ‘well maintained and cared for' – just once it was reported by our property manager Kirstie Green as ‘a little untidy in places'. I dread to think what standards of cleanliness this property manager lives in. Our neighbours now also report that an additional person that we did not know about resided at the property for the 2 year tenancy. Whether this was an ‘official' sub-let or not, we do not know, but extra keys were cut in contravention to our contract. Being concerned as we were with this company, we felt we had to become more ‘active Landlord's', even from overseas. We checked up on them as much as we could, demanded action on the one issue we knew about (at that time the mould was limited to the en-suite) and even contacted the tenants personally because we didn't trust Blundells/Countrywide. Our property managers Kirstie Green and Tristan Hickey did not seem to appreciate our interventions and played an extremely obstructive game thereafter. Unfortunately all their behaviour and shortfalls were supported by Peter Lee, their Regional Director, and so there is little incentive for the staff to be anything but confident with the appalling service they offer. When we approached the tenant to at least get some of the money back through the tenant bond, Kirstie Green caused mischief by e-mailing the tenant, advising him to go to dispute, rather than supporting us, her clients and explaining to the tenants the serious damage they had done to the property. Then Blundells/Countrywide sent a sub-standard claim to the tenant bond scheme without our knowledge and against our wishes. Fortunately MyDeposits agreed to accept a further 15 pieces of evidence from us, and as a result we managed to secure all the tenant's bond. The Ombudsman awarded us £75 for ‘aggravation' which was derisory, but at least this award acknowledged the unprofessionalism of those property management staff concerned. However we were not successful in our claim against Blundells/Countrywide for failing to manage our property. The Ombudsman's report only says that he has not found against Blundells/Countrywide for the damage because they followed ‘The TPO Code of Practice'. As we understand it Blundells/Countrywide only need to manage issues raised by the tenant, or the Landlord. Everything else (unless it's likely to kill someone) can be ignored. If the Landlord is out of the country like us, and the tenants are quietly but systematically neglecting and abusing the property, nothing has to be done. Then when the tenant leaves the property the Landlord (wrongly believing his property has been ‘well maintained and cared for') is in for a shock - left to fight for the tenant bond, and then, when the costs were as great as ours, through the small claims court. You really are at the mercy of your tenants, and how they choose to treat your property. All we can say is that we employed Blundells/Countrywide to manage our property and give us peace of mind that our house was being looked after while we are out of the country. It's been anything but, hours spent chasing them up, trying to recover costs, second guessing their obstructions and mischief, making complaints about them. Both you and your property are in a very vulnerable position if you use this agent. If you are already using Blundells/Countrywide and experiencing problems, please feel free to contact us on the address below and we can at least share some of the tricks of the trade that the Adept Works office in Sheffield have used. e-mail: landlordprotectiongroup@gmail.com Blundells are a trading arm of Countrywide Residential Lettings Ltd. so beware of either - same system, same processes, same appalling service!