Need advice dealing with Letting agent.

[Mog83]

A bit of a strange one this, I guess; as I can't find the information I'm looking for anywhere.

 

A friend of mine has agreed to let her property out to me. My problem is she currently has a letting agent handling the property management, I've made it clear to her that I have an aversion to estate agents and would prefer not to deal with them at all.

But, for the very good reason that she is currently living abroad and has already been using the agent for a few months now; she would prefer to keep using them for a while longer. Mainly in case for some reason or other, I have to move out a few months later and she wants the mechanisms in place to get another tenant in fast. Although I have assured her I want to remain in the property for at least a year.

 

Anyway, I accepted this and walked on down to the agent in question to set the ball rolling. He explained to me the current situation with the house, which in itself is a bit complicated. You see the previous tenant had only been occupying the property since roughly the end of Nov 2010. Some pipes burst due to the cold weather and the tenant had moved out for 2 days causing a fair old bit of damage which is currently being delt with.

 

 

After explaining what was going on and what needed to be done he then asked for a preliminary fee of £150 + Vat. I asked him what it was for and could he break it down for me to which he replied that it covered the holding fee; any reference checks and admin charges. This guy, had literally, seconds before just told me that the property was not ready for viewing and would probably not be ready for another 3 weeks (now 2mnths). So, I argued that they were not actually holding the property for me seeing as they weren’t even advertising it at the time and they weren’t showing people it, so why would I have to pay a holding fee? Also that I could acquire my own credit reference check for free, to which he replied he would be more than welcome to show me a list of fees from other estate agents and upon me asking which portion of the fee covers the reference check, he told me they outsource it; so he wouldn’t be able to give me that information. The guy then instructed me to talk it over with my friend (the landlady).

 

By this time I was tired of talking to him and a bit miffed from the initial £150 fee he asked for so decided to leave it for now. I went home and contacted my friend telling her what had happened and that I refused to pay such extortionate fees. Several days later I received an email from her saying that the agent decided the fee was unsuitable in my case and they even agreed to give her a discount on the re-letting fee they were charging her!!! jiminy Christmas!! You would think I would be happy.

 

The fact they knocked £100 off the initial fee just makes me angrier as I can not see them taking that money and then realizing “whoops! this fee is unsuitable” and refunding it back to me had I paid it. It’s a joke that they can get away with it, it’s like someone trying to rip you off and then saying “darn it, you got me! Ok we’ll only charge you this much”.

 

They were now asking for £50 +VAT from me and because I was privy to the actual email I found out the re-letting fee would be £95 +VAT for her (a suspiciously similar amount to the amount deducted). I looked online to find out what and actual re-letting fee is and ALL I found was that it appears to be a fee charged to the tenant, for the landlord; to cover the landlords expenses (I’m assuming these are letting agent fees) of finding a new tenant in instances where the tenant has broken the AST agreement early. which did happen in this case, as the previous occupant wanted to move out and leave the whole debacle of the flooded house behind them.

 

Now… A lot of people have been saying that I am being extremely unreasonable but after having gone away and thought about it, I’m thinking to myself “Why should I pay these guys anything at all?”

 

My argument is, I am not actually a client of theirs nor do I want to be and I can provide everything they need already. I can use my friend (the landlady) as a personal reference as I actually use to be her lodger in the very same house. I can obtain my own credit reference check free of charge. I can get work references very easily.

I have a copy of AST agreement which covers everything and I can print it myself, for the whopping fee of absolutely nothing! Also the landlady has told me in good faith she wants me in the property and that all I have to do is talk to the letting agent.

 

Now I don’t really want to cause any undue stress, incur charges or put pressure on my friend to go private, she has good reason to want an agent managing the property despite the complete balls up they made with the last tenant. But unfortunately I am finding it hard to see a way around the agent as she thinks now the fee has come down that I am going over the top a bit. For some insane reason she doesn’t have the copy of the contract she has with them and she is afraid to ask for a copy because she doesn’t want them to “drag their heels” with the repair work going on which is ridiculous in itself as I thought estate agents had a legal obligation to look out for the best interests of their clients.

 

I would like to know what claim the agents actually have on the property, fair enough they will be managing it but as far as I see it that is a separate service rendered to the landlady and nothing to do with me. They’re basically making out that if I don’t conform to their fees and register with them then I can’t move into the property even with the landlady’s consent; effectively using this as leverage.

 

I’m not just trying to get out of paying fees. I can easily pay them but in my opinion they’re wrong. What options do I have available to me? Can my landlady privately let it to me with the letting agent managing it? Please could someone give me some advice that isn’t basically “suck it up” because I’ve already heard that off about fifteen people already. Thankyou.

[mariner51]

3 points of view to consider

 

1 LL - lives out of the Country, needs professional local agent to manage the property, for which she pays monthly fee and repair costs. She really should know what her contract with LA stipulates and should have been given a copy at outset. She would be ill-advised to sign an STA provided by a T, even a good friend!

 

2 LA - provides a commercial service to LLs & Ts alike. Your reduced letting fee prob reflects the lack of advertising required etc but to provide a prof service, they should check credit rating & various refs themselves, prepare inventory & inspect the property occ throughout any T whilst making a profit to pay staff wages, rates etc.

 

3 T - (you) like most Ts have a healthy disrepect for LAs and their high charges. Who will you expect to sort out problems when they arise, poss even when T responsibility/fault, or perhaps you will follow the previous Ts example. You have been offered a sig lower fee (£50) than normal which sounds a good offer when cheap insurers & budget airlines charge a packet for those extras we used to regard as standard good service.

What is annoying is when these service providers fail to deliver what you paid for.

 

Read a few posts on this and similar forums, to understand the pitfalls that can befall Ts & LLs for not understanding the legislation involved in private rented market.

This is not a 'suck it up' reply. You are negotiating a service fee for taking on a property that is not yet ready and the LA does not make money until he has a tenant to move in, so you are in a strong position at the moment, and I suggest the £50 fee reflects this.

How will you feel if another T pays full fee and passes all the acceptance checks whilst you are trying to save £50? All your friend wants is a reliable T.

[Mog83]

I wrote a big reply but quickly realised I was becoming irrelevant due to my personal feelings involved XD

Thank you for your advice it is greatly appreciated, though if someone could tell me EXACTLY what a re-letting fee is and if they're suppose to be charged TO the LL, I would be sincerely grateful. Also does the LA have any legal grounds for stopping me becoming my friends tenant without going through their procedures i.e. setting up a DPS account and a direct debit with my LL signing the contract and just moving in?

I know in my heart of hearts that I will probably end up having to pay them. But it seems unfair to me that I should have to pay for something I don't want i.e. their "tenant services".

[mariner51]

I can't explain what a re-letting fee is, I am not an EA, I can only say what I think it means, but will defer to others for now.

 

There is nothing to stop your LL friend processing any new tenant herself, provided she cancels her Agreement with LA first, to avoid complications.

 

By your own admission, she lives abroad and doesn't want the hassle of finding future tenants after you. She would have to either return and conduct all nec inspections herself, arrange repairs herself, draw up legal AST, or engage a UK proxy, for duration of your tenure, and hope she can find another LA when you leave.

By all means suggest it to her and see if your friendship outlasts your Tenancy.

 

I admit my stated position comes from bitter experience.

[Mog83]

Thank you very much for your advice.