A student in London has accused her estate agent of 'attacking' her group after they went to negotiate with them about an 'illegal eviction'.
Sarah Warsama went to Eaton Green estate agent today (21 April) with some representatives from the London Renters Union (LRU) after allegedly being evicted from the home she was renting with fellow students.
The 21-year-old claimed the estate agents, who were 'acting on behalf of the landlord', should have secured a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence as the tenants weren't a family.
Advert
She told LADbible the licence should have been secured prior to them being evicted as 'the house is basically illegally rented out', so she and the reps went to 'have a discussion about the eviction and to come to an amicable agreement'.
Sarah claimed the agents 'wouldn't have any of it and were being very sexist and rude', and also said the estate agent manager attempted to 'push' her out of the shop and 'shoved' her friend from the LRU.
"As we all left [or were] being physically shoved out my friend called the guy a w****r in response to the physical shoving and verbal abuse", Sarah said.
In the footage Sarah shared online, one member of her group can be heard calling the manager a 'w****r', after which he can be seen following them out of the shop, saying: "What did you say?"
Advert
He swiftly walks over to one member of the group and appears to push him before picking up a sign, as if to somehow use it against the group.
Other members of the group can be heard shouting at the man and questioning what he is doing, while another man who appears to be a member of staff from the estate agents appears to try and de-escalate the situation and guide the manager back inside.
Sarah's footage was shared online by the LRU's Twitter account, which read: "Today several LRU members went to the office of @eatongreen estate agents in Camberwell to demand a stop to a campaign of harassment which has seen them threatened with illegal eviction and unlawful fines. This was their response."
The student described herself as being 'really scared' during the situation, saying she was 'frightened' the manager was going to attack her for filming the scene.
Advert
"He was a lot taller than me," she said. "I’m still pretty shaken up and never in a million years did I think the situation would end up like that. I’m in shock at the level of anger and how unprofessional the estate agent manager was."
The group contacted Southwark Police and reported the incident, and are said to be 'keeping in correspondence with the police' as they are worried the estate agent manager 'may enter [their] house and violently remove' them. As she believes the estate agents are acting on behalf of the landlord, Sarah said she is 'pretty sure [the landlord] doesn’t know anything about what’s happened'.
LADbible has reached out to both Eaton Green estate agent and Southwark Police for comment.
Emily Brown