dodgy agents

[ashy2]

i rented out a brand new property thru this letting agents which turned out to be a mistake. first they made me furnish the property by lying to the tenant that it's fully furnished, i didnt want to loose money so i did it. at a point, the agent gave the tenants my tel no and they were calling me directly for anything. the letting agents gets the rent and dont pay me until at least a week after and this is only when i have called to demand the rent. 4 months into their tenancy and the tenants stopped paying, after countless calls made to them, they told me they want to end their tenancy and want the deposit used for the 4th month rent, it was meant to be a 6mnth AST.
i later found out that the letting agents didnt get a reference but only took the co-tenants name as a ref, they didn't do any checks on them either and have little or no information about them. being a new property, am quite particular about the state the tenant will leave it in as they are not paying rent. the tenants dont pick up my calls now as they know what it's regarding.
i know i havent got a chance until they owe 2 months rent.
what can i do with these letting agents that have been totally useless and what if they decided not to pay the rent with the deposit afterall?

[ALIEN1X]

Hi,

Are the agents members of any professional body, which you could complain to?

If they are memebers then which ones? 'ARLA' is one of the main ones.

I feel sorry for what you have been through, as I went through a similar case.
I'm in a process of selling my investment, as I have had enough of agents and bad tenants. With the sale money I will get the same in intrest from a bank as rent with out hassles.The interst earned goes back to build capital and more interest.

After 18 years of renting and hassles, it is a fact that agents dont give a.....
and tenants dont give a .... about your property and will get away with anything.

Rented properties will get trashed by tenants,and they will walk free, its fact that all Landlords have to except these days.Its a risk you have to take regardless of refrences, its make or break.

Read the terms and conditions of your agreement with agent and tenant.
The deposit is used for damages and not good practice for in lieu of rent.

I would look for better agents (if there are any) check the 'ARLA' web site.

Regards
ALIEN1X

[MrShed]

Depending entirely upon your WRITTEN terms of business with the agent, you could sue them for your financial loss due to negligence.

[ashy2]

unfortunately they dont belong to any professional body and dont have a clue on what this is all about. i have also had a look on what is meant to be their 'website' but cant get any information from it,by the way, it only has one page.

i can only hope and pray the tenants leave as promised and then get my money from the letting agents. the agreement i signed with them is not so straight forward afterall and am hoping they wont look for a way to hold down the deposit, at least i may be able to sue them. i can see that they are aleady avoiding any discussion on the deposit issue, all they keep saying is they have given the tenants a NSP.

i will definately be looking for a new agent and will look at the website as advised.

thanks mates