Letting Agents taking money from rent payments?!

QTPie

chrispyphillips wrote: »

The point is possibly being missed here. I've been charged without my consent or authority for work which I have had no proof of completion for.

QTPie wrote:

I agree that it was VERY wrong for them to do the work and charge for it without getting your go ahead.

I think that you should go in, in person, and speak to them. Demand a refund (unless they can prove, in writing, that you accepted the quote that they never gave you in the first place...), but insisting that the work is reversed is just silly :rolleyes:

Make it VERY, VERY clear that they must not undertake any works without your express say so.

chrispyphillips wrote: »

nyone got any experience of this or know of a good agency to visit to get advice?

Either go in, in person, and speak to the CAB OR consult your own solicitor (but, that will cost you considerably more than £40...).

What are the terms of you letting agreement with this agent? When can you get the property managed by another agency?

QT

chrispyphillips

QTPie wrote: »

Sorry, I ought to add... Getting a refund is reasonable, but getting the work undone is only going to not benefit your tenants - which I think is sad.

QT

What would you advise? I know where your coming from, however the tenant is not in the flat on the weekends, so this could be undone on the Saturday and refitted on the Sunday, causing him absolutely no problems.

To ask for £40 back, AND have them leave the new light in place seems a bit unlikely. And theres a principle to all this. Should I just accept this, whose to say they wont bung in a new fridge or bed and charge me for it without telling me? Cos that would really not benefit the tenant should I remove things like that. A hallway light which isnt a necessity is hardly hurting anyone!

barnaby-bear

chrispyphillips wrote: »

To a degree yeah thats right. It never bothered me living there, the hall is about 10'x6' and has light from the bathroom, living room and bedroom shining into it, but they asked me to fix it, I said I'd listen to a quote, they never gave me one. Had they given me one, if it were reasonable I would have given the go ahead, if it werent, I would have done the work myself. To say I 'never would do' isnt correct at all!

The point is possibly being missed here. I've been charged without my consent or authority for work which I have had no proof of completion for. Anyone got any experience of this or know of a good agency to visit to get advice?

:rolleyes: Ask the tenant if the work was done?

You might not have minded a broken light but the tenant *THE CUSTOMER* obviously did complain, if there's a light there it's reasonable for them to want it working. Bad LLs who scrimp and are slow on such things just encourage good tenants to go elsewhere so your LA may have saved you lots of money in re-letting costs and voids.

Them doing the work means you have no responsibility for ensuring Part P and standards and I doubt you could do it for 20 pounds (most Part P leccys won't come out for that) and demonstrate competence....

barnaby-bear

chrispyphillips wrote: »

What would you advise? I know where your coming from, however the tenant is not in the flat on the weekends, so this could be undone on the Saturday and refitted on the Sunday, causing him absolutely no problems.

To ask for £40 back, AND have them leave the new light in place seems a bit unlikely. And theres a principle to all this. Should I just accept this, whose to say they wont bung in a new fridge or bed and charge me for it without telling me? Cos that would really not benefit the tenant should I remove things like that. A hallway light which isnt a necessity is hardly hurting anyone!

If I was the tenant I'd think you were a right plonker having a repair taken out - you do have to give notice of access so they'll know....

chrispyphillips

QTPie wrote: »

Either go in, in person, and speak to the CAB OR consult your own solicitor (but, that will cost you considerably more than £40...).

What are the terms of you letting agreement with this agent? When can you get the property managed by another agency?

QT

Agreed, I'm trying to avoid that road, they seem like they may prove to be fairly reasonable, but now I get the impression they are purposfully avoiding my calls to not have to deal with me, which I find to be terrible business practise!

The tenant has a 6 month agreement, which expires in June (where he has the option to take a rolling monthly contract should he chose). I'm just concerned for the future and any precedents that may arise from this. I should possibly point out that previous to informing me of the light, they rang up and informed me that since the tenant had spent £60 on bed linen, he wondered if I would contribute £20 towards the cost of that?!?!!? WHAT?! For starters I cant believe they even asked me that, and now I have no idea if I HAVE paid £20 for the linen, and £20 to have the light fixed!!!

So I hope you see where I'm coming from? Its not the light, or the fact that I want it reversed out of spite, I'm genuinly concerned that they may be taking me for a ride and trying to get away with everything they can!

poppysarah

If you try and say they don't need a light in a hall then you'll be on to a loser.
You've got a responsibility to keep the place in a good working order.

If you're not happy with the LA then get a new one or manage the property yourself.

PS: If they don't answer the phone to you, imagine how frustrating that might be for a tenant with a serious emergency!

QTPie

chrispyphillips wrote: »

What would you advise? I know where your coming from, however the tenant is not in the flat on the weekends, so this could be undone on the Saturday and refitted on the Sunday, causing him absolutely no problems.

To ask for £40 back, AND have them leave the new light in place seems a bit unlikely. And theres a principle to all this. Should I just accept this, whose to say they wont bung in a new fridge or bed and charge me for it without telling me? Cos that would really not benefit the tenant should I remove things like that. A hallway light which isnt a necessity is hardly hurting anyone!

No, I think that you are very right about the principle... I just don't think that it needs to be undone for that principle to stand. At the end of the day the work has been done, you cannot go back to the time when it wasn't done, the only "benefit" of having it undone is to cause the letting agents the expense of having someone come back round to "undo" it... that may be your tact, but seems a little petty. I would say "concentrate on getting the £40 refunded" and leave it at that. If the Letting Agent starts saying "well it is done now, so you/your tenant benefits from it!", then you could say "well do you want to pay for someone to come around to "undo" it" (that would be a way to say it and, of course, they would say "no!").

What I would do is:
- Go round to their home address and try to speak to them in person.
- If that fails, go in person to CAB and see where you stand.
- At the same time as all of that, look at your contract with the agency and look at how to terminate that (if you are still within contract, then the CAB may be able to help - they may have breached their contract with what they just did). I would be looking to find another agent: one that wont do things without your express say so and that also wont hide when an issue arises...

Good luck
QT

chrispyphillips

barnaby-bear wrote: »

If I was the tenant I'd think you were a right plonker having a repair taken out - you do have to give notice of access so they'll know....

Can I just get this straight? This is my fault?

I've never objected for the light being repaired, nor is it my desire to get the work reversed, but the point remains I was informed I would get a quote, I didnt, and work, which I paid for without prior knowledge or consent, was undertaken. Ideally I'd love for the light to remain, and for a full or partial refund to be given, but since I cant speak to the LA, I'm having difficulty in doing that!

To summise

• Light in the Hall - Important, should be fixed
• Would appreciate partial/full refund
• Would appreciate SOMEONE answering the phone to me.
• Tenant not at property on weekends, access not a problem.

chrispyphillips

QTPie wrote: »

No, I think that you are very right about the principle... I just don't think that it needs to be undone for that principle to stand. At the end of the day the work has been done, you cannot go back to the time when it wasn't done, the only "benefit" of having it undone is to cause the letting agents the expense of having someone come back round to "undo" it... that may be your tact, but seems a little petty. I would say "concentrate on getting the £40 refunded" and leave it at that. If the Letting Agent starts saying "well it is done now, so you/your tenant benefits from it!", then you could say "well do you want to pay for someone to come around to "undo" it" (that would be a way to say it and, of course, they would say "no!").

What I would do is:
- Go round to their home address and try to speak to them in person.
- If that fails, go in person to CAB and see where you stand.
- At the same time as all of that, look at your contract with the agency and look at how to terminate that (if you are still within contract, then the CAB may be able to help - they may have breached their contract with what they just did). I would be looking to find another agent: one that wont do things without your express say so and that also wont hide when an issue arises...

Good luck
QT

Thank you QT, great advice (now to try and find out where they live!! :rolleyes: ) I was trying to go down the "Well, it would be a pain for you to source someone to come and undo the work, so...." road, I think I just got there a little ahead of myself!

As far as the contract goes, I'll certainly check the content of the agreement, but at the end of 6 months I dont think I'llo be returning to these. I'll pay a little extra and use a proper agency. I just thought that during these times of credit crunchness, I would help out a smaller business with their follies into the letting world. Turns out they may not be fit for it after all (and before anyone else starts, I do know a few people now who are having problems getting in touch with them!)

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep the thread updated with any new developments.

QTPie

chrispyphillips wrote: »

Can I just get this straight? This is my fault?

No, you would only be a plonker if you DEMANDED that they undid the work...

It is not your fault, although maybe you should have fixed it sooner. The agent is completely at fault for not getting your permission to do the work...

QT