Letting Agents Admin Fees

[jayne67]

Hi all,

Here I am again the proverbial bad penny!!

First time in this section though, so here is my question.

We have paid a well known letting agent an admin fee of 155.00 for them to take up references with regards to letting a property. The application form states that the money is not refundable if a. we change our minds on renting the property, or b. if our references come back unsatisfactory.

We got a call within hours of sending in our application, to say that a credit check had revealed a ccj from august 2003, and unless we could prove it had been settled, then the letting agent couldn't give us a reference. By this I assume to the landlord.

I asked them if they had obtained references from our existing landlord/business landlord and employers, but they said they don't do any of this if we have ccjs, its a straight decline.
I asked for my fee back, and was told no. I am absolutely livid, that they have charged me 155.00 for a credit check, when if they had stated in their application, that peeps with ccjs need not apply, i could have saved a much needed 155.00!!

Is there anyway i could get my money back??

Jayne

[jayne67]

Hi again

I assume then that there isn't any way I could get reimbursed?
I will perhaps call into cab, just to put my mind at rest!

Jayne

[Ed999]

If the application form stated that the fee is not refundable if the references are unsatisfactory, you would appear to have no claim, since you admit that you have a CCJ - county court judgement - against you.

It would have been sensible to disclose that to the agent in the first place. A CCJ will make you unsatisfactory to some landlords.

It really depends what "unsatisfactory" means. You could have a nice long argument in court about it; but the court might not be too sympathetic, since it is the court which created the judgement against you that gave rise to the CCJ entry.

In financial terms, a landlord might be acting reasonably in refusing a tenant with an unsatisfied judgement against him/her.

Did you take up the agent's invitation to prove that the judgement has been satisfied? If not, I'm afraid that it's another point against you, when it comes to the question of whether your references are satisfactory.

They were acting very reasonably in giving you that further opportunity to resolve the matter.

It is difficult to see how exactly the landlord is acting unreasonably in the circumstances. Sorry.




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