Letting Agent screw-up

[Gigi]

Hi again,

After asking your advice my old tenant has gone, house done up and new tenants in but................ my hub decided to get lazy and give it to a letting agent to manage.

All of a sudden they are unavailable to talk to me but I have received a copy of the contract for the new tenants (which I am obviously bound by) and it is only for three months instead of six months - due to end on the last day of the year which is a great time to find a new tenant!

This is not what was agreed by me
This contravenes the terms of my mortgage
They have charged me the full management fee for only half the term

Where do you think I stand with them? Can I force them to go back to the tenant for a 6 month AST as I haven't actually agreed to 3 months?

I am so cross! (I just love that word)

[MrShed]

This is an unfortunate situation Gigi. I do not believe you could force a 6 month AST to be signed, as the agent was acting as just that...your agent. Of course, there is nothing stopping you requesting that the tenants sign a 6 month AST instead. You couldnt force it anyway, as you could not force the tenants to sign. However, you should have some form of recourse against the agent....provided of course that you stated to the agent taht the minimum was a 6 month AST!

Out of interest was the agent on a management basis or just a finding tenant basis?

[Gigi]

Hi Mr Shed
The agent is on a management basis !

My husband was all for selling up after the mess we found and only agreed to keep the property if the agent managed it - thinking we could just forget about it! How wrong he has been proven. We told her 6 month min AST to which she answer that was usual and indeed the copy AST she gave us to persue was 6 months
I have spoken to the agent who tried to say there was nothing wrong with the 3 months and that the tenant has paid up front for the whole 3 months, and it was because the tenants wanted to move in quickly they agreed to it (as I pointed out to her I would have expected her to consult me before binding me into an agreement other than that which we had discussed). She is going to try and get them to change the agrement to 6 months.

I am still cross

[paul_c]

Hi again,

After asking your advice my old tenant has gone, house done up and new tenants in but................ my hub decided to get lazy and give it to a letting agent to manage.

All of a sudden they are unavailable to talk to me but I have received a copy of the contract for the new tenants (which I am obviously bound by) and it is only for three months instead of six months - due to end on the last day of the year which is a great time to find a new tenant!

This is not what was agreed by me
This contravenes the terms of my mortgage
They have charged me the full management fee for only half the term

Where do you think I stand with them? Can I force them to go back to the tenant for a 6 month AST as I haven't actually agreed to 3 months?

I am so cross! (I just love that word)



Have you signed the agreement? If you have, why? If you haven't then send it back unsigned explaining the error. Next, find a new agent!

[MrShed]

And absolutely you should be cross Gigi. If they manage to get it changed to 6 months then fair enough. However if they do not I would be suing them for AT LEAST half of the fixed fee at the start(I assume that you paid a fee at the start for them to find tenants etc, and now pay a percentage of the rent?), if not perhaps(although I'm not sure how well you would do here) the loss of rent after this 3 month ast expires until a new tenant is found. Which, as you say, is at a difficult time...it would not surprise me if the property was vacant for over a month. They have broken a verbal agreement with you, simple as that, and you should get compensated by them, IF they do not put it right.

[MrShed]

Oh and how does it contravene the terms of the mortgage out of interest?

And are the agents affiliated with a professional body such as NAEA or ARLA?

[MrShed]

Have you signed the agreement? If you have, why? If you haven't then send it back unsigned explaining the error. Next, find a new agent!

Unfortunately paul the landlord will not have to sign the agreement....the agent will have no doubt done so on her behalf.

[Gigi]

The agent signed on my behalf which in itself surprised me.

The mortgage stipulates that tenants must have a minimum 6 month AST maximum 12 months.

I think she was trying to impress me with the speed she found a tenant (which was very quick) and she has agreed a short lease for the tenants benefit. They have paid up front for the three months and the agent has taken her fee plus 10% of the three months rent already. So there is nothing else for them to do, they won't even have to do any checks and I shall be faced with paying to find a new tenant at the worst time of the year. At this rate it looks as if I could be making a loss on this! :(

I usually ask for a deposit of one months rent plus £100 but she has only taken one months rent - I do admit though that I never thought to agree that.

[Paul_f]

This agent is dangerous, bad news, and lacks a lot of knowledge - probably even basic stuff.

I also expect him/her to be unregulated therefore you're on you own unfortunately.

There's nothing wrong with a good agent but landlords are so carelss they don't think about who they appoint most of the time, and then complain when they get a duff one?!

[MrShed]

OK well Gigi:

- As long as you stipulated to the agent that it must be a minimum 6 month tenancy then you should tell the agent to either charge you half the fee(maximum) or not charge a fee for the next finding of tenants.

- Saying they have nothing else to do is slightly incorrect....they are managing the property. That is what you pay your 10% for.

- The deposit issue is not really a big deal IMO...I believe that agents generally(or at least do in my area) have a standard deposit they request. Especially in this circumstance, it is not an issue, as the big reason for taking over a months rent as deposit is to try and put off tenants from merely not paying the last months rent and using the deposit for it instead. In your case however all the rent is already paid, so this is not an issue.

- Find out if they are part of a professional body! As said by paulf I'm guessing not, but still worth checking.

[Gigi]

This agent is dangerous, bad news, and lacks a lot of knowledge - probably even basic stuff.

I also expect him/her to be unregulated therefore you're on you own unfortunately.

There's nothing wrong with a good agent but landlords are so carelss they don't think about who they appoint most of the time, and then complain when they get a duff one?!

Yes I accept we were careless, I can deal with things myself but I am only half of the decision making process. Agent told us they issued 6 month contracts, gave us an example of a 6 month contract and we said that is fine because that is what we expect. So we were totally gobsmacked to recieve this. Everyone in their office said this was irregular but the boss herself was not at all apologetic. I left her in no two minds of what I expected but as has been said - the tenant is not at fault and I am bound into it by the agent.

It was the "If we don't do our job right we don't deserve to be in business" that hooked hubby! :confused: :(

[S J]

Just a brief point or two. A common mistake made many landlords is first appointing an agent and then failing to understand the relationship between them.

Most agents act as though they are the principles and give instruction to the landlord, whereas iit s the other way round. Furthermore, this is a business arrangement between the two of you....there should be terms and conditions which will say who does what and how. There is no point complaining about things that have happened when you havent concenrned yourself with knowing your position.

The agent is just that....your agent. They cannot do what you have not authorised them to do. With regard to signing on your behalf, I can imagine that the terms and conditions will specify what happens in this situation. Its quite normal practice for an agent to sing such documents on behalf of the principle.

As for suing them, the same rules of mitigation would apply to you and you will have to show evidence of your instructions to them being for a 6 month agreement rather than a 3 month agreement.

You may consider terminating the relationship between you and only pay for their charges/ costs up to date of termination. You could try and refuse payment on the basis of their neligence.

As for thier slogan....they clearly dont deserve to be in any kind of business.

[Gigi]

Can't refuse to pay as the tenant paid them up front and they have already taken their slice.

No mention of their signing on our behalf in the small print, and we did state 6 month lease. They are supposedly trying to get the tenant to resign a 6 month, but don;t believe this as the boss said it was def going to happen yesterday but today they say not.

If they don't then do I get them to serve S21 end of this month i.e. 2 months before end of lease? Or get them to sign a 6 month lease following on from this one if they want to stay?

[MrShed]

- Agent will sign on your behalf, its part of what they do.

- I am unsure, however, I do not believe you can serve an S21 before 6 months(to expire after 6 months). Even if you can it is pointless as you cannot start eviction proceedings until after 6 months.

[Gigi]

Oh :(

So if they won't sign to a 6 month
and after the three months they won't sign anything
they are just there on a monthly (or nothing ) till six months and only then can we do anything about it?

Bloomin letting agents! :mad:

[MrShed]

Yes Gigi.....but....isnt this exactly what you wanted anyway? Them staying for 6 months? Of course they can still walk after 3....

[Esio Trot]

I rely on my agent, and (most of the time) acts with my best interest at heart.

They did a 2 month let (which ended up as a 4 month let) even though my expectation was for minimum 6 month lets.

I was going to have a moan, but then noticed that instead of the expected £500 a month, the property was let at £750. The reason? It was an insurance job, where the tenants had a fire at their house and needed alternative accomodation.

The agent takes the view that for a short let an uplift in rent is reasonable - to re-market after a few months is costly for them as well as for me if they were to charge me again.

Did your agent charge extra rent? If not, ask why.

[Gigi]

No the agent didn't charge extra rent, it seems the tenant asked for 3 months so they gave it to them without discussing it with me, which I don't find acceptable as it has already been said they are just agents and should follow my instruction.

Anyway the tenant has agreed to scrap the original and sign a 6 month agreement (and I have it now in my little hand) so I am a little happier. Obviously though I don't feel I can trust the agent. Funny thing tho, the inventory shows 2 extra internal doors! :D

[MrShed]

Good good Gigi glad to hear you sorted it. Still get shot of that agent at earliest opportunity though!