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Letting Fee Witheld - Help!


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Hi,

 

my girlfriend recently moved to England, and after taking a few flat viewings, we found a really nice place for her. We set about reserving the property, by paying the letting fee. The letting agent said that the tenancy was secured as long as everything went according to plan in regard to the guarantor form. After she paid the letting fee in cash, she was invoiced. At the time I thought nothing of it, but on this invoice it said non-refundable payment. The agent raised this point and said that because he hadn't spoke to us about the fee being non-refundable prior to putting the money forward, that it didn't apply, and crossed it out in biro. From there he just required a guarantor form, because, at this point, my girlfriend did not have a bank account or a job (she needed an address first). After some talk my dad put himself forward as guarantor. We filled out the guarantor form, and sent through proof of address, identity and income. Now as far as I was concerned a guarantor was just somebody that could ensure payment should the tenant not be able to. However it developed over time that my dad would have to sign a co-tenancy agreement alongside my girlfriend and that a direct debit would be set up out of his account. We found out this information at the same time as being told that the property that my girlfriend had put the letting fee down for had been given to somebody else by the landlord, but that there was a bigger and better flat in the same building that she could have for cheaper than the original flat. The letting agent made out that this was the landlord being impatient because a week had passed before we finally sorted the initial guarantor information. Either way I knew my dad wouldn't accept those terms, and so we had to pull out. At this point however the letting agent said that he had passed on the letting fee to the landlord (which made no sense to me as the letting fee is surely for the letting agent), and after I said that we wanted it back, especially considering that money was for a flat that was given to somebody else, the agent said that that might be a problem and that i'd have to give him the weekend to sort it out with the landlord. Following that, I rang the letting agent back after the weekend and he said that the landlord wasn't giving the money back, but that we could have a credit note of the same value to use at the letting agency in the future.

 

Now I'm at a bit of a loss, and was hoping somebody could give me some advice as to what to do next.

 

Has the letting agent pocketed this money and is palming off the blame on to somebody else?

 

 

Thanks

 

Joel

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Yes..................

write the letting agent a letter before actions asking for the full fee to be returned... Due to the fact that the flat was let to someone else...

 

If they do not pay up in full, initiate a claim with money claim online.....

 

they have broken the contract by letting the reserved flat out to someone else....

I am not a solicitor :!::!:

 

Most of my knowledge came from this site :-D:-D

 

If I have been helpful in any way at all .............. Please click my star..... :-(:-(

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