| Basic Account Customer |  Tenancy Agreement Issues
I forget the exact date but I must have viewed an apartment some time towards the end of February whilst it was still occupied and very much liked its size and layout. I had noticed that there were a few damages to the apartment, such as paint and plaster damage to the wall above the kitchen sink, and when I asked the estate agent what their policy of this sort of damage was, they assured me that not only were all apartments industrially cleaned after tenants had vacated a property, but that any damages were also repaired before a new tenant moved in. They then assured me that if I was not happy upon moving in, I would merely have to present them with a list of concerns and they would automatically be taken care of. Upon this assurance, I was happy to make an offer.
After having my offer accepted on the back of the estate agency’s guarantees, I verbally accepted to take the property. By this time, the property was vacant, and I was informed that it was ready for the next tenant in that it had been checked and cleaned thoroughly. I had planned to formally sign for the property and pay my first month’s rental and deposit payments on 1st April when the lease would begin, but I requested to the estate agency’s Property Manager if I could have access to the apartment the weekend proceeding this date on the basis that I would not have time to move any possessions in during the week or on either of the following weekends, and that this would give me an opportunity to inspect the apartment and make a list of anything I felt needed attention. The manager’s response was that as a favour, he would let me formally sign for the property on Friday 28th March 2008, which would allow me full access to the property earlier than planned and that this would give me the opportunity to make a list of any problems and he could have these sorted within a few days. Thinking this to be a good will gesture on the manager’s part and the answer to my problem of when I could move in, I signed the lease on the 28th of March and paid £550 for the first months rent and a £50 top-up deposit fee as I am an existing tenant with the estate agency.
I immediately went round to the apartment on Friday afternoon and was horrified to find that whilst it had clearly been cleaned to a certain degree, there were many damages to the apartment that had not been visible on the viewing whilst it was occupied by the previous tenants, and that were beyond the remit of 'wear and tear' in my opinion. For example, the lino flooring in the lounge had several large black stains, coupled with cigarette burns and was raised in a number of patches, actually lifting up from the floor at the entrance to the room causing a clear hazard. The walls in every room apart from the main bathroom and walkway displayed large stains especially around the light switches, the sofa had noticeable stains that had not been cleaned from the previous tenants, and the problems above the kitchen sink had not been fixed as previously advised, despite being pointed out on the viewing. I called the estate agency’s property manager immediately with a list of concerns and was told that repairs to the flooring would be too expensive and out of the question, a new sofa would probably also be out of the question and I should attempt to remove the stains myself, and that apart from the repairs that needed doing to the wall above the sink, all the other stains to the walls would be too expensive to fix as they would require re-painting. Despite this, the manager said that he would contact the landlord to see what he would suggest or be willing to do.
Obviously very disappointed by this prospect, I went into the estate agency’s offices on Monday 31st March (the earliest I could) to inform them that because of the damages to the apartment and the fact that they would not be altered I wished to pull out of the deal and handed back all the keys. However, property manager informed me that because I had signed a 6 month contract, I was legally bound to the lease and if I still wanted to pull out I would lose all of the £600 I had already paid, even though I had not begun leasing the property because the official start date was from the 1st April 2008. This was justified by him by the fact that not only had I signed, but that the landlord was expecting one month's rent for April and did not want to be out of pocket, and that they had turned another prospective tenant away in favour of me taking the property. They then tried to 'do me a favour' by suggesting that if they could fill the apartment with someone else for April they may be able to give me part of my money back, but if not they would be keeping it all.
I fully intended to visit the property one final time to inspect it after the previous tenants had left and perhaps this is where my biggest error lies, but the reason I signed and paid before this is because the agency had assured me that the apartment had not only been checked, cleaned and all necessary repairs made, but that I could inform them of further concerns upon moving in and they would be taken care of no problem.
I am keen to stress that I expected to incur some form of financial cost upon pulling out of the contract before the lease was due, but I certainly feel that the agency’s decision to hold onto the whole £600 is unreasonable; a view held by my family solicitor and the Citizens Advice Bureau. In addition to this, I have looked into the responsibilities of estate agencies and tenants respectively in these situations and it would appear that the agency have failed to provide a complete inventory that includes the age of the various furnishings and notes on their condition.
In addition to this, I was not asked to sign and date an inventory agreeing that I was happy it was correct (which is important owing to the fact that a mop and bucket appear on the inventory but were not present in the apartment), I was not provided with certification of when the electrical appliances in the apartment were last safety checked, and the sofa did not carry a label adhering it to fire safety regulations. Finally, a number of items left in the apartment by the previous tenants were not removed by the agency, including a large shelving unit in the main bedroom, two garden chairs on the balcony, and pieces of clothing randomly dumped on the balcony. With all of this in mind, it would seem clear to me that the agency are guilty of clear failings in their responsibilities.
One final thing, I have recently discovered that as I was originally supposed to sign a 12 month contract as agreed by the original negotiations, and upon signing the agency had mistakenly put 6 months on the tenancy agreement, in order to adjust the contract the agency have simply corrected their mistake using a pen and replace 6 months with 12 months with initials. Does this have any bearing on the legal status of this contract? The agent is now telling me he is having difficulties in communicating with the landlord meaning that he is still unaware of my decision to pull out, which I feel is important seeing as we are now four days in to the lease when I made my decision before the lease was due to begin.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do next?
Thank you all very very much for taking the time to read through this,
Chris. |
