The £7 million (?) (US$12m) swindle, engineered

Officially, consumers like me can only approach this Ombudsman through their local Member of Parliament - (thereby - in my view - putting a 'convenient block' on 'unwanted complaints').

Given that the outcome of my contacts with my then MP, Mr Michael Portillo , had been three "get lost" , I saw no point approaching him.

I nonetheless wrote a letter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, on 22 November 2004 , explaining my reasons for by-passing Mr Portillo by relating events and concluded the section by stating

"In light of this experience - and given the nature of what I have to report - I know there is no point my contacting Mr Portillo"

With my letter, I also supplied 27 supporting enclosures (list attached at the end of the letter).

My objectives were two-fold:

• to communicate the main points of my case and events with the various government departments in the hope that, somehow, remedial action would be taken, as I also highlighted the horrendous consequences of the nightmare I had and continued to endure

• to raise awareness in this Ombudsman department as to what is actually taking place in the leasehold-tenant sector. (I headed my letter "The true face of the landlord-tenant sector" )

Fair minded, reasonable visitor to the site: I know! How naïve of me!

Of course they ALL know what is going on in the leasehold-tenant sector, but prefer to turn 'a blind eye and a deaf ear' to suit the powerful lobbies with a vested interest in keeping the status quo.

As Mr Barry Gardiner, MP, stated during his 8 January 2002 speech to the House of Commons:

"In the 118 years that have elapsed (since 1884). (of the) 31 different Bills dealing with leasehold reform. All but two of those 31 Bills have been defeated. Such has been the power of property and the landed classes in this country."

However, at the time I still had - stupidly I will admit - a 'tiny bit' of hope, thinking, at least, I am giving those 'in power' yet another opportunity to take remedial action. Well, THEY DID NOT.

My letter led to a phone call from somebody in this Ombudsman Office. The person asked me whether I was a law student because of my comprehensive legal knowledge, as well as the way in which I had written the letter - to which I replied in the negative.

(I did not tell him that it took me c.40 hours to get to the final letter - in part because I kept breaking down in tears as it made me relieve the horrendous nightmare)

The person asked me to explain my situation, leading me to ask whether he had read my letter and supporting enclosures. "Yes" was the reply, but he nonetheless wanted me to relate the main points. In the process of doing this, I broke down in tears - which led him to feel embarrassed and say there was no need for me to continue to explain.

Among others, the events I related in my 22 November 2004 letter included my experience with the Local Government Ombudsman.

Rightly, or wrongly, it 'seems' to me that my letter filtered down to what I nicknamed the 'little dictator' i.e. the Local Government Ombudsman Investigator as, suddenly, he became rather keen to assist. (See Local Government Ombudsman for further detail)

In addition, five months later, I also copied this Ombudsman on my 6 April 2005 letter to Mr Michael Howard, then leader of the Conservative Party - with the objective of, yet again, providing those 'in power' with the opportunity to take remedial action.

It led to the 27 April 2005 reply of 'nothing to do with us' .

My impression is that this Ombudsman is a highly competent person, with moral values (a rarity in government), screaming to get out of the shackles preventing her from doing her job as she believes it should be done.

(In 2005, I attended a talk by this Ombudsman and remarked to my friend that she did not depart from her text.

When asked a question, it felt to me as though she was 'bursting' to give 'her', rather than the 'party line' answer. Well... these are my impressions)

Fair minded, reasonable visitor to the site, do you see why I wrote in the introduction to the site that there is 'no avenue open to me for justice and redress and protection on this island' ?