A LETTING agent has been accused of trying to silence a disgruntled tenant with “hush money” by offering her £250 if she agreed never to criticise the company again.

Brand Vaughan Estate Agents, which operates across Brighton and Hove, made the offer to Ana Sandoiu during a dispute over problems with her rented home in Wilbury Road, Hove.

She asked for £250 compensation because the agent had been too slow to respond to her complaints, and enlisted the renters’ union Acorn to help fight her cause.

They had planned to picket outside one of the company’s offices today.

But the company fixed the problems and, in an email seen by the Argus, offered a “goodwill gesture payment” if Ms Sandoiu and the union agreed to destroy all campaign material, promised not to hold a protest and never to make “any adverse or derogatory comments” about it in future.

Ms Sandoiu said: “I think they confused compensation with hush money.”

Brand Vaughan director Jason Brand denied trying to silence Ms Sandoiu or the union, and said his company would have been happy to make “reasonable adjustments” to the agreement.

The union, which has about 1,500 members in Bristol, Newcastle, Sheffield and Brighton, said it had never come across this kind of situation before.

Ms Sandoiu, a medical science journalist, said the toilet at the property did not flush, the washing machine, fridge and extractor fan were broken and there was a “horrendous” smell from a nearby drain.

She said: “I demanded compensation of £250 from the agency to make up for the time, energy and money I spent and overall unfairness of this situation.”

Mr Brand said letting agents needed terms to protect themselves against “fake news, fake reviews, slanderous comments and criminal damage”.

He added: “It is unfortunate that Acorn have been instructed by our tenant without first using our company complaints procedure to assist, or indeed Acorn directing our tenant to follow this process in the first instance.”