Benali claim against the club..an insight??

[Wes Tender]

Thirty grand or not, wouldn't it be nice to think we had a Chairman who could responsibly rent a property from a stranger without the owner eventually feeling the need to try and recoup his losses through litigation ?

 

Yes, but the £30 grand tends to show the landlord in an unfavourable light, as it seems on the face of it to be a fantastic figure, totally unjustifiable against what it appears to cover.

 

And we have the landlord's side of the story, but not the tenant's. Let's wait for that to come out in court before pre-judging for either party.

[saint1977]

I always look after places I rent. In fact they're usually in a better state than when I moved in. I also get to know my landlord and make sure I work with them - if I look after the place and am a good tenant, they're less likely to put the rent up and are happy for me to stay as long as I want. Everyone wins. Amazed how many people don't realise this, on both sides of the coin. I treat other people's property as I would expect someone to treat my own... i agree that, sadly, most people don't, and that many landlords almost *expect* trouble, which caused them to care less about good tenants when they get them, but I try to avoid places where I can't actually meet or talk to the landlord and make my mind up about them. Quite sad really that the concept of personal responsibility and respect are so alien to so many these days.

 

That said, there is always a contract in place... not to have one would be a bit silly IMO, especially when the place is worth £1.85m!

 

Spot on Minty, we rented a cottage for our first 6 months in the South West after selling our property whilst we were finding the best area to buy in. We'd never have considered not leaving it in mint (no pun intended) condition for our landlord. I'd hope that if we had to relocate our property in the future and rent our current house out that we'd have a good relationship with the tenants and see the same.

 

This is a dispute between two wealthy men that would be a 4 sentence job on Page 27 if they weren't connected to SFC past and present. Frankly, my view is that this has no bearing in terms of what goes on for our first XI on the pitch. I still admire Franny for a decade-and-a-half's dedicated service, MLT is still one our of greatest ever players and Cortese is and has done a superb job as Chairman and CEO. I can state those mutually exclusive 3 facts without the desire to take sides and I say let the rich men have their day in court.

 

I like you am very surprised that this wasn't put into a written contract - with a verbal contract it's one person's word against anothers and very hard to get the bottom of. With the sums of money allegedly involved, I'd like to think the vast majority of users of this site would have put this into a written agreement.

[Big Bad Bob]

Thirty grand or not, wouldn't it be nice to think we had a Chairman who could responsibly rent a property from a stranger without the owner eventually feeling the need to try and recoup his losses through litigation ?

 

But what if the Chairman feels, as do a few here, that the costs are exorbitant. No choice but to litigate.

 

I'm sure if Franny had asked for £10k, still a lot IMHO, the Don might have been more amenable.

 

Has anyone seem the Don's wife, is she a fitteh? Maybe that's why he didn't get anyone in to maintain the pool or grounds, Lady Chatterley and all that.......

[Saint_John]

Is this the property in question? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-2044631/Francis-Bengali-selling-1-99m-home--theres-hint-bling-sighte.html#axzz2KUSFBQy6 The article (dated Oct 2011) said he was planning to "build a new and more modest property nearby" but I've been told he is moving to Portswood.

[PhilippineSaint]

That Tennents is foul stuff, so not surprised. Should have had some decent beer in the kitchen :-)

 

Scottish Wife beater your right should have known better and got Spitfire Ale in

[dubai_phil]

I'm now totally confused.

 

So where do we stand in the big debate now?

 

Is it Tiles or Carpets in the Loo? We were ASSURED it was all about the Tiles.

[Wes Tender]

I'm now totally confused.

 

So where do we stand in the big debate now?

 

Is it Tiles or Carpets in the Loo? We were ASSURED it was all about the Tiles.

 

They've reached a compromise and installed carpet tiles.

[PhilippineSaint]

They've reached a compromise and installed carpet tiles.

 

That is easiest to replace the stained ones

[Guided Missile]

I just can't resist it. Sorry guys, but I think I deserve this tiny moment of "I told you so":

 

On the 26th September, 2010 I posted this on this website, which was hastily removed and for which I was banned for three months:

 

Frannie Benali is suing Cortese for £50K for damage to his house and outstanding rent while Cortese was living there.

 

Nice to see that the Echo reporters are on the ball...

[Prince Jazzbo]

Lady Chatterley and all that.......

 

I think you'll find she was married to Lew Chatterley our former coach and caretaker manager.

[Colinjb]

I just can't resist it. Sorry guys, but I think I deserve this tiny moment of "I told you so":

 

 

 

Nice to see that the Echo reporters are on the ball...

 

I wouldn't be taking that one personally, I would suggest it was more about protecting the site from any potential legal repercussions then doubt in what you were relaying.

[shurlock]

Yes, but the £30 grand tends to show the landlord in an unfavourable light, as it seems on the face of it to be a fantastic figure, totally unjustifiable against what it appears to cover.

 

And we have the landlord's side of the story, but not the tenant's. Let's wait for that to come out in court before pre-judging for either party.

 

The only possibility -and it's remote- is that Cortese is months and months in arrears on the rent but thats not what is implied here.

Edited 20 February, 2013 by shurlock

[Chez]

I rented mine out and every time the tennents changed you could guarantee there would be a large bill for redecoration and repair of the kitchen because as Winchester states renters do not look after other peoples property. How often have you rented a hire car got it on the motorway and thrashed it ?

if you return your hire car damaged, you pay for it.

[Jonnyboy]

More specifically :

 

"It is claimed that damage was also caused to the kitchen hob, that the club neglected to have the windows cleaned, that they had failed to pay the TV licence fee and charges for Sky television for the month of June 2010, that the swimming pool was not cleaned as agreed and that the garden was not kept up to condition.

 

The claim says that the cost of making good dilapidations to the house came to £33,346, while the cost of making good damage to personal property (“chattels”) was £3,163.98"

 

It's an interesting estimate, that's for sure.

 

I'd have done it all for half the price. Fact.

[Big Bad Bob]

if you return your hire car damaged, you pay for it.

 

Isn't that what a deposit is for?

[OldNick]

30k for cleaning windows and keeping the garden in good condition!! who did that work a PL footballer as a 2nd job

[Dig Dig]

Cortese out. I want my club back and Benali wants his kitchen hob back.

[Thedelldays]

so this is why MLT has been going on in the press/Sky..? Dirty swimming pool and a broken cooker..........fair play, for doing his bit for his mate

[saint77]

this was the house benali built and didnt pay subbys for work then went bust ,deserves it imho

[The9]

But what if the Chairman feels, as do a few here, that the costs are exorbitant. No choice but to litigate.

 

I'm sure if Franny had asked for £10k, still a lot IMHO, the Don might have been more amenable.

 

Has anyone seem the Don's wife, is she a fitteh? Maybe that's why he didn't get anyone in to maintain the pool or grounds, Lady Chatterley and all that.......

 

I'd be inclined to think that as the case has been brought by Benali, the Chairman's "choice" in the matter is non-existent - his role was to pay the appropriate costs and not give the landlord any reason to need or want to arbitrate.

 

There's clearly a resistance to meeting what Benali believes is the original verbal deal :

 

Savills said £6k rent was going rate.

 

Although Benali says the rent was less than the going rate, he believed he had a deal where he would be getting the £6k minimum anyway, plus £500 extra every time he was a matchday ambassador after the second occurrence in a month :

 

The Echo article reports the verbal agreement was that Saints paid £4,000 each month, with Cortese personally adding £1,000. "Additionally, it is claimed that an agreement was reached that would see the club employ Mr Benali as a matchday ambassador, paying him £500 per match, with a minimum total of £1,000 per month".

 

He had to "work" a little bit for the amount Savills claim the place was worth, but it also gave him the chance to make a few quid on top if he was an ambassador more than twice in a month. Though there was also no indication that he couldn't have got the £500 an appearance ambassador job irrespective of the rental agreement, the fact Cortese/Saints quickly didn't use him suggests there was no demand for it and actually Franny had wangled himself an additional opening to earn £500 a time.

 

Rental began in October 2009 (dates of rental don't appear to be in dispute, Oct 09 to Jul 10), no problems that month or November 2009.

 

*In December 2009, instead of £4000 plus £1000 minimum ambassador fees and £1000 from Cortese, Benali is paid only £3500, prevented from accessing the ground to be an ambassador for 2 matches. Benali either got underpaid £1000 on the rent and paid £500 for the one ambassador appearance but not the £1000 minimum per month he was expecting, or he got underpaid £500 on the rent and got nothing for being an ambassador for that one match. Logically you have to think he got the £500 ambassador money but screwed on the rent that month.

 

In the Jan 2010 renegotiation, Benali meets Cortese, there's now a written agreement removing the £1000 Cortese was to pay and adding it to the club payment, so the new agreement is £5000 - there is no mention in the report of the ambassador role or any minimum monthly payment being confirmed in writing. This is important, as Cortese never pays Benali more than £1000 and never allows him to earn more than £1000.

 

* From Jan 2010 - July 2010 Benali was again prevented from performing his ambassadorial duties - once in January, once in February, and then for the whole months of March, April, May and June, "amounting to a further £7,000 in unpaid fees". I've broken down how the £7000 is reached below.

 

What is clear is that Cortese decided by December 2009 that Benali wasn't needed for an ambassador role and didn't intend on paying above the minimum he could get away with.

 

It's also clear Cortese didn't feel there was any £1000 minimum guarantee (or wasn't going to adhere to it) - If you only consider what Benali was paid for ambassador appearances :

 

Oct 2009 - paid for 2 appearances (we only had 2 league matches and a midweek JPT for which it's unlikely an ambassador would be needed)

Nov 2009 - paid for 2 appearances (again only 2 league matches and a midweek JPT)

Dec 2009 - paid for 1 appearance ? Three home matches, prevented from accessing Tranmere and Exeter so only had 1 ambassador role - would explain why the payment was divisible by £500 - a single £500 payment for that one match only ?

Jan 2010 - paid £1000 for first two appearances, locked out of making more appearances (would have been £500 more)

Feb 2010 - paid £1000 for first two appearances, locked out of making more appearances (would have been £500 more)

Mar 2010 - locked out of all 4 - no payment (would have been £2000)

Apr 2010 - locked out of all 4 - no payment (would have been £2000)

May 2010 - only one home match, locked out of that - no payment (would have been £1000 if there was a £1000 minimum payment)

June 2010 - no home matches, no payment. (would have been £1000 if there was a £1000 minimum payment)

 

The total of missing possible payments is not that easy to calculate as in Dec 2009 it is not clear what was being paid for with the £3500 as it was less than the rent amount, but it could be up to £7500.

 

Either way it's not £33k...

[The9]

I just can't resist it. Sorry guys, but I think I deserve this tiny moment of "I told you so":

 

 

 

Nice to see that the Echo reporters are on the ball...

 

September 2010 for the case being brought then... sounds like you got banned for having multiple user names, "Deep Throat".

 

The outstanding rent I can see is possibly a grand from Dec 2009 - where the £3500 paid to Benali is less than the minimum payment of £4k (irrespective of Cortese's £1k and the ambassador payments). Depends if Benali got £500 for his one ambassador appearance in Dec 2009 or not, or if he got stiffed on both that AND the rent that month.

 

He's certainly got a grievance, whether it's to the tune of the amount he's claiming...

Edited 20 February, 2013 by The9

[Big Bad Bob]

I'd be inclined to think that as the case has been brought by Benali, the Chairman's "choice" in the matter is non-existent - his role was to pay the appropriate costs and not give the landlord any reason to need or want to arbitrate.

 

No, no, you misunderstand me, I think.

 

What I'm saying is the conversation went something like this :-

 

FB "Oi, mate, you ****ged on me cooker, in the pool, up against the French doors and possibly in the garden, would you kindly give me ~£35k to get it all sorted"

NC "Sorry Frannie, may I call you Frannie BTW? I believe the damage is more likely about tuppence hapenny, would you by any chance take that"

FB "**** you Nicola, stoopid girl's name anyway, I won't take less than £30k, plus you owe me for last month despite the fact we didn't have a home game"

NC "Sorry you think like that chum, £5k tops"

FB "Get away with you £30k or I'll sue your Swiss-Italian ass."

NC "Court it is than Mr Benali, and don't think you're going to work for us again.......and don't try and grind the horse head I send you for your lasagna, and I never liked the carpet in your bathroom either"

[swannymere]

I still admire Franny for a decade-and-a-half's dedicated service, MLT is still one our of greatest ever players and Cortese is and has done a superb job as Chairman and CEO. I can state those mutually exclusive 3 facts without the desire to take sides

 

Don't be bloody stupid, this is modern Britain, you have to hate somebody.

[trousers]

I just can't resist it. Sorry guys, but I think I deserve this tiny moment of "I told you so":

 

Nice to see that the Echo reporters are on the ball...

 

Any idea why it's taken c.2.5 years to get to court if he was suing Cortese in 2010? Even Pompey takeover court cases don't take that long....

[hypochondriac]

I'd have done it all for half the price. Fact.

 

It's really weird that you have a picture of a player's girlfriend as your avatar.

[trousers]

It's really weird that you have a picture of a player's girlfriend as your avatar.

 

Almost as weird as someone commenting how weird it is

[St Marco]

So this is what the big feud is about....a broken hob, a swimming pool needing to be re-filled and a garden needing its grass cut...seriously?

 

I wonder if Benali has been using the fews accountant to come up with those numbers.

 

I thought people were saying he took down a wall, ripped up carpets and tiles?!

 

What will he find next? Someone didn't empty the sink after washing up? That's another £10k...

[Dig Dig]

Even weirder than having a gay hispanic pop singer with a slogan across designed to mock those who like a short but simple way of keeping Marcus's contributions in mind?

[hypochondriac]

Almost as weird as someone commenting how weird it is

 

I don't think it's particularly weird to point that out.

[hypochondriac]

Even weirder than having a gay hispanic pop singer with a slogan across designed to mock those who like a short but simple way of keeping Marcus's contributions in mind?

 

It's weird that you think that's what it is.

[Dig Dig]

It's weird that you think that's what it is.

 

It's weird that you think I wouldn't think that's what it is

[The9]

No, no, you misunderstand me, I think.

 

What I'm saying is the conversation went something like this :-

 

FB "Oi, mate, you ****ged on me cooker, in the pool, up against the French doors and possibly in the garden, would you kindly give me ~£35k to get it all sorted"

NC "Sorry Frannie, may I call you Frannie BTW? I believe the damage is more likely about tuppence hapenny, would you by any chance take that"

FB "**** you Nicola, stoopid girl's name anyway, I won't take less than £30k, plus you owe me for last month despite the fact we didn't have a home game"

NC "Sorry you think like that chum, £5k tops"

FB "Get away with you £30k or I'll sue your Swiss-Italian ass."

NC "Court it is than Mr Benali, and don't think you're going to work for us again.......and don't try and grind the horse head I send you for your lasagna, and I never liked the carpet in your bathroom either"

 

You did well to pick that out of my epic reply. I see what you mean now, they may have had discussions but Cortese chose not to engage and to make him pursue it via litigation.

[The9]

Almost as weird as someone commenting how weird it is

 

I think it's weird that anyone uses avatars, I set mine up to not display them when the site last changed template to add the blogs, and didn't even realise other people still had them until I viewed the site on someone else's iPad t'other week.

 

Which btw is also why I don't have one.

[hypochondriac]

It's weird that you think I wouldn't think that's what it is

 

This could be never-ending.

[trousers]

the windows which weren't cleaned and therefore also had to be replaced.

 

Crikey....I'd better go and check my windows are ok....can't remember the last time they were cleaned!

[hypochondriac]

I hope justice is done

[The9]

Classic case of hangers on. 33k in damages a massive joke...no wonder its going to court.

 

I'm sure the "hanger on" wishes he'd never been so gracious as to rent his property out to the new chairman of Saints in the first place now. Even if he did use the agreement as a way of potentially making himself a few hundred quid.

[Thedelldays]

I hope justice is done

 

No you don't. You only want one outcome

[trousers]

I hope justice is done

 

Is there anyone who doesn't in any given court case?

[The9]

Is there anyone who doesn't in any given court case?

 

Oscar Pistorius ?

 

 

Allegedly.

[trousers]

Oscar Pistorius ?

 

Allegedly.

 

 

I meant from an observer's perspective. We're all observers in this instance (unless Mr Benali or Mr Cortese are looking in right now) ergo whatever the court decides will be the 'right' decision

[The9]

 

I meant from an observer's perspective. We're all observers in this instance (unless Mr Benali or Mr Cortese are looking in right now) ergo whatever the court decides will be the 'right' decision

 

Big ups the Justice, yes.

[red&white56]

Almost as weird as someone commenting how weird it is

 

But not as weird as kowing that it's a WAG. Cheryl Cole i know about but all the others............... life's too short to figure them out (ohh I forgot Rooney's missus and Frank Lampard's girfriend - I would recognise them as well, but that's it!)

[sotonjoe]

Do we really need five pages of the usual mongs giving their interpretations of a poor piece of journalism? Must be a quiet day at the asylum.

[Dig Dig]

It's actually only 2 pages Joseph.

[VectisSaint]

So this is what the big feud is about....a broken hob, a swimming pool needing to be re-filled and a garden needing its grass cut...seriously?

...

You forgot the windows that weren't cleaned. Our window cleaner charges £14 every 3 months, so as Franny's house is 5-bedrooms and mine has 4 I guess 14*1.25, £17.50 might be appropriate. I can see that this might be the straw that broke the camel's back.

[Thedelldays]

im curious how a completely terrible player for 90% of his appearances is worth £500 a game in ambassadorial duties...

[hypochondriac]

im curious how a completely terrible player for 90% of his appearances is worth £500 a game in ambassadorial duties...

 

It appears that the club agreed to it.

[Thedelldays]

It appears that the club agreed to it.

or not maybe....

[hypochondriac]

or not maybe....

 

Possibly not. But it does say that he was paid certain months but then not others. So bit weird if it never existed yet he was paid for some months.