Agents admin fees

[Kathym0873]

Hi

Hopefully I have come through to the right place. 

In November I was evicted from the property I had lived in for 3 years.  Due to many issues.

I  found a flat through an agent with a no deposit option. Paid £20 for the credit check which came back OK.  Paid on the Monday £280 to secure the property. 

Unfortunately due to my Landlord refusing a reference I went back to the Agents and told them.  I  then received a very nasty call from them saying I had lied about being evicted. (I didn't tell them to start with as I was embarrassed )

They then told me that the money would not be refunded.  I  put a complaint in to head office. And got the same response. 

Which caused an argument with my partner. 

We went to another agent and my partner paid out £350 for referencing which again came back as a no. Due to poor credit. 

I understand the law is changing in June however we are both out of pocket and I am now currently sofa hopping as trying to find somewhere is impossible 

Is there anyway we can try to get the money back.

 

Thank you 

 

 

[AndyOrch]

Hi and Welcome to CAG

Do you possibly have the terms and conditions of this letting agent and if so could you scan redact and upload a copy.?

Andy

[Kathym0873]

HI 

Not to hand . But I am sure I can find them. We were told that they would not refund the money.  The first company was Leaders. if that helps. I also feel that for the work they didn't carry out we should both be refunded.  

Thank you 

 

[London1971]

Yup,

Here's what worked for me.

Send them an SAR request under GDPR.

I told them, that I wanted all emails and correspondence, relating to me.  They failed miserably, I threatened to report them to the ICO.  They ended up taking 1200 off my final leaving bill from my rental property. 

I wanted proof of everything they had done, what work they had put in etc.  

[AndyOrch]

 

Is this them ?

https://www.leaders.co.uk/pages/terms

[Kathym0873]

Hi 

 

Yes it is. Like I said I sent an email to complaints and got the same response back. Managers discretion.  As they told me that I had lied about the situation they would not refund the money.  I was actually quite embarrassed by the situation hence not saying anything to start with.  

The girl I dealt with was very rude and abrupt. 

The other agents was Abacus  Lettings in Bognor Regis.  My partner has the paperwork for them at home. 

[AndyOrch]

If you can get the T&Cs to your agreement and upload as soon a convenient and we will run from there.

Andy

[Kathym0873]

Hi having problems uploading the file  please help

[dx100uk]

Yes we are aware..should be resolved soon

read upload

[Kathym0873]

Good morning

Unfortunately I am still unable to update the file.  Will only let me upload  501kb.

Have you any idea as to when this will be resolved. 

 

Many thanks 

 

Kate 

[king12345]

Did you lie or did you avoid telling them about the eviction because they didn't ask?

There's a difference.

You don't have to volunteer any information. 

If they ask you respond truthfully, if they don't ask it means it's not relevant. 

[Kathym0873]

Firstly they did not ask. So I said nothing to Leaders then when questioned later on I told them. That's when it all got nasty. Saying that I should have told them to start with. 

To me it was embarrassing.  Not only that as stated in my previous post I complained about it and got no where.  Company is a rip off. 

[London1971]

Forget about being embarassed.  You will never get your fees back that way.  Put them to proof that they even bothered doing a check by demanding an SAR from them.  It will put the fear of God into them, believe me.

[BankFodder]

4 hours ago, Kathym0873 said:

Good morning

Unfortunately I am still unable to update the file.  Will only let me upload  501kb.

Have you any idea as to when this will be resolved. 

 

Many thanks 

 

Kate 

sorry, we are still trying to tweak the settings. Can you tell me what kind of file you are trying to upload – and the size of it – and if there are more than one then the type and size of each one. Thanks

[Kathym0873]

Just a copy of the terms from abacus lettings. also It was mentioned an Sar. As I am not that legally minded I don't quite understand.  All I am interested in is claiming both my partners money back and mine.  They have done bugger all. 

[BankFodder]

Have you tried to upload the file again?

[Kathym0873]

Yayy success 

 

[BankFodder]

Well nearly a success – but please would you post it again but the right way up. It would be helpful if you could post it in a way that you would like it presented to you if you are helping us. Thanks

[Kathym0873]

Hi 

Sorry  about that. 

Please find attached. 

[dx100uk]

ok now do it as it should be as a PDF please

read upload

images [jpg] should not be posted directly to screen as it forces people on slow connections or ones that they pay for to download things they might not want to waste time/data costs on.

can you try PDF lets see if that works too

[Kathym0873]

..

[AndyOrch]

Comes into force `1st June 2019...

 

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-6597591/Government-set-finally-ban-rip-letting-agency-fees-summer.html

[London1971]

On 08/03/2019 at 17:48, Kathym0873 said:

Just a copy of the terms from abacus lettings. also It was mentioned an Sar. As I am not that legally minded I don't quite understand.  All I am interested in is claiming both my partners money back and mine.  They have done bugger all. 

Google GDPR Subject Access Request.  There are lots of templates online you can customise, print off and post within a few minutes.  Make sure you get a proof of posting from the Post Office.

 

Here is why you do it.

 

1 You will be the first person to ever send them an SAR, they will rightly 'brick themselves', knowing that not complying with a GDPR request now potentially involves fines of a size that could put them out of business, 

 

2. They will not have a clue to comply with it properly, so that when they fob you off with a load of rubbish, you can demand more, and if they refuse , report them to the ICO (information Commissioners office)

 

3. If they do comply properly you will see that they really did do bugger all for the money you paid them, and use it as leverage to demand your money back.

 

4. They may realise that you are going to be costing them a lot more in time and hassle than they have made from you and just refund you anyway.

 

Do this, it will cost you nothing, take you a few minutes and you have zero to lose.  There is also the Social Media shaming route but I would hold fire on that for a while.