Relief and gratitude for Sarnia tenant as Guernsey community spirit shines again

Friday 21 September 2018

The woman who first went public asking where her money was as Sarnia Estate Agency went bust has been told she should get all of her cash back.

Lottie Barnes said as well as receiving that good news from the liquidators this week, she's also been overwhelmed by the support she's had from friends and strangers since first telling Express her story.

Pictured: How Express broke the news ahead of Sarnia Estate Agency slipping into liquidation.

Ms Barnes started to wonder where her money was when no one from Sarnia would take or return her calls on the day she was supposed to be getting the keys to her new flat last month.

By that point, she had paid the estate agency almost £2,000 by way of a deposit, first months rent and other fees. She was also due to move out of her existing flat meaning she was at risk of being made homeless as well as losing her money.

Her story became apparent just before Sarnia Estate Agency was listed to be struck off by the Guernsey Registry. Soon after the company went into voluntary liquidation, with Grant Thornton appointed to the case.

Pictured: The company went into voluntary liquidation a month ago.

This week the company said it was "pleased to advise that there has been established a designated fund available to repay the current estimate of deposits held on behalf of landlords under the agency agreements" but it also warned there may not be any money left for other creditors.

Jamie Toynton, joint liquidator, had said: “these funds are specifically held for the repayment of deposits not yet paid over by Sarnia to landlords under the terms of managed property agreements, or for the few individuals who so unfortunately had paid over funds for deposit and advance rent at the time of the liquidation but their tenancy was not subsequently agreed.”

Most tenants, Ms Barnes aside, are being dealt with separately to their landlords with the liquidators saying they have to deal with each other directly. 

"Tenants who dealt with the Company should note that their tenancy agreement is between the tenant and the landlord, and not with the Company. Therefore any claims tenants may have in relation to their tenancy should be made directly to the landlord or any new agent the landlord may have appointed. In due course as tenants reach the end of their tenancy, provided the terms of the tenancy agreements have been met, they may claim any refund from the landlords," Mr Toynton said.

In Ms Barnes case, as her contract had not been processed, she is getting her money back from Sarnia, rather than having to deal with the landlord of the flat she had hoped to move into.

Pictured: Lottie Barnes.

"I'm quite lucky really," she said. "I'm in a unique position because the liquidators said my transaction hadn't happened yet so theoretically the money should come straight back to me as my contract hadn't been processed.

"I really feel for the other people and have empathy for them. They'll be relying on landlords to return their money from their rent and deposits."

When Ms Barnes went public, for many people it confirmed rumours they had heard about Sarnia Estate Agency facing difficulties. While Alex Ford was a director of the company prior to resigning days before the company appeared to stop trading,  an investor called Quinten Hubbard was also involved.

Ms Barnes now believes the situation goes far beyond the estate agency.

"I had a few members of the public contact me to say thank you for going public, because they had also been affected by wider issues.

"I really hope the media coverage can be positive and for those people who made bad business decisions, I hope it puts a stop to them doing it again.

"This all revealed some things have happened which have affected people."

Ms Barnes also said as well as looking likely to get her money back, the situation had another silver lining for her, as she was at the receiving end of some good Guernsey community spirit.

"I had a huge amount of support and I am so grateful. I had offers of somewhere to stay and help to move and legal help. It was a real positive and demonstrates what Guernsey is like.

"Policy does need to change though. Guernsey needs a deposit protection scheme to stop this happening again."