West End Development Corporation (Wedco) has failed to obey a court order to carry out a litany of repairs at a house following complaints from the tenant.

The female tenant took Wedco to court last November to force it to carry out the repairs at Cochrane Road, Sandys, and a magistrate instructed her to withhold paying her rent until the improvements were made.

The frustrated single mother, who asked not to be named, took the corporation to court again in March and April because the repairs had still not been carried out, despite the magistrate ordering Wedco to do so.

The tenant contacted The Royal Gazette because she said the corporation was in breach of her tenancy agreement and has still not repaired her house, in spite of the orders of the court.

In a letter to Magistrates Court in April, the tenant states: “I am a single parent that would like to see the justice system reprimand Wedco for deliberate intent to disobey a court order.”

She said the house, which she has lived in for seven years, is riddled with damp and water, and the fixtures and fitting are old and shoddy.

She said electrical fittings are breaking away, walls are weak with damp and could collapse, windows and doors are not properly fitted resulting in six inches of water being trapped in the slide doors and leaking into the house through cracks in the concrete.

She added that closets were water damaged because taps could not be switched off property and water ran down the walls.

In her letter to court, the tenant asked for Wedco to reimburse her for money she has spent replacing carpets, tiles and woodwork.

She said Wedco had sent letters to her asking to inspect the property, but she had refused corporation officers entry because the magistrate had ordered them to repair the house, not continue to carry out inspections.

She said she called the Police on the Wedco employees in March and Police advised her to call them back again if any of the officers turned up at the property for any reason other than to carry out the repairs.

She said Wedco had turned up three times to inspect the property after being ordered to repair the house.

And she said Wedco continues to charge her fees for late payment of rent, even though the court ordered her not to pay rent until the repairs are completed.

Her April letter to Magistrates continues: “There are many outstanding disputes with the landlord regarding mandatory two year rent increases, $25 late fees for water that is not drinkable because they continue to add bleach, and $25 late fees for rent not paid by the fifteenth of the month.

“Wedco refuses to acknowledge my concerns and my efforts have been exhausting. I am at a point of disgust.”

Speaking to The Royal Gazette yesterday, she said: “It is totally disrespectful to the tenants. Landlords think they can do what they like but its out of order.

“I pay rent and I shouldn't have to be put through the six months of stress of having to take them to court when it is something they are supposed to do.

“They can penalise us for doing something but it seems we cannot penalise them.

“They have hardly any staff and there are no young workers up there who know what the job entails. I am going to ask the judge to allow me to use my own workmen because the work Wedco does is half-assed and will continue to be half-assed.”

Wedco general manager Lloyd Telford told The Royal Gazette yesterday: “It is a court order and we are not at liberty to discuss it. It is her right to speak to you, but we don't discuss anything once it hits the courts.”