Admin fees paid and not returned

[saleshark]

Hi

My second post and I have more problems.

My wife saw a house that we wished to rent a couple of weeks ago. She looked around and decided we would like to rent it. The LA said he had other people to show around that morning, he said that if we paid £140 admin fees this would hold the house and they wouldn't show anyone else around. All went well and we waited a week for the credit references. Then on Friday the LA rang up and said the landlord had accepted an offer on the house, so it was no longer available to rent. My wife asked about the admin fee we had paid and the LA said that some would be refunded. I have since rang him up and they said they would give £60 back and the other £80 was for the credit checks. I have said that it wasn't us at fault for the pulling out and we should have all our money refunded. He said the credit check was tranferable. I said that was fine if we found another house with him but what if we didn't. To this he said he would have to ask his manager. I'm still waiting for them to call back. Surely the landlord should be liable for this cost as the house wasn't even on the market. He was there when my wife was being shouwn around and said he was happy to rent as it wasn't the right time to sell.

Do you think I should get a full refund?

[Planner]

Yes, you should get a full refund without question. The agents act on behalf of the landlord. They have carried out the credit checks on you on his behalf. If the agents arent willing to pay for them once the rug has been pulled out of the deal, the the Landlord should.

Obviously the easiest solution would be to find another house with them, although I would be put off by the dubious way the have acted in returning this.

Stop dealing with this over the phone, everything need to be in writing. Write them a letter stating that you expect the full amount to be returned within 10/14 days. If its not returned, you will need to send a letter before action (LBA) stating that if the full amount is not returned in 14 days you will submit the following LBA along with N1 county court claim form (which you should fill in and attach at this stage) should the refund not be forth coming.

I assume you have a recipt? did you sign anything from the agents apart from the forms you filled in for the credit check?

To be honest, I would be surprised if a credit check costs more than £15.00!!