Letting Agents taking money from rent payments?!

1984ReturnsForReal_2

£40 is cheap. The done you a favour & are liable if it goes wrong again.

They should of told you the quote before but they also should of given the tenant notice etc.. etc... etc..

Put it in writing that you will not accept any future deductions for work without your prior agreement & get over it.

barnaby-bear

_bankrupted wrote: »

I think a lot of posters on this forum need a reality check!!

If it wasn't bad enough for the original poster to lose complete touch with reality and common sense, we have a plethora of posts giving various degrees of advice from demanding receipts, part p certification, speaking to a solicitor. Clutton is a lone voice of reason in a sea of despair!

People it's £40 and the problem has been fixed!!!!!!

What advise to give is there except that it was fixed extremely cheaply and the 0P has one less thing to worry about

:mad: I pointed out their proposed actions would make them a nutter....

poppysarah

_bankrupted wrote: »

I think a lot of posters on this forum need a reality check!!

If it wasn't bad enough for the original poster to lose complete touch with reality and common sense, we have a plethora of posts giving various degrees of advice from demanding receipts, part p certification, speaking to a solicitor. Clutton is a lone voice of reason in a sea of despair!

People it's £40 and the problem has been fixed!!!!!!

What advise to give is there except that it was fixed extremely cheaply and the 0P has one less thing to worry about

It was fixed cheaply. That does not equate with quality always.
It is the landlords property and his responsibility to ensure it's been done by an appropriately qualified electrician.

His receipt for the work needs to be filed safely for his own records.

QTPie

poppysarah wrote: »

It was fixed cheaply. That does not equate with quality always.
It is the landlords property and his responsibility to ensure it's been done by an appropriately qualified electrician.

His receipt for the work needs to be filed safely for his own records.

Plus, if the LA does this to the LL over a faulty light, would he do the same if the fridge or the carpets needed replacing?

I am VERY for LAs/LLs acting quickly to repair problems, BUT the LA must check any quotes with the LL before proceeding... PLUS the LA really should not be ignoring the LL (and the LL has no contract with the LA). I think that one of the main things for the LL to sort out is a new LA...

QT

m_13

I think the OP has left the thread!

chrispyphillips

m_13 wrote: »

I think the OP has left the thread!

Nope, I'm here, and starting to wish I hadnt bothered!!! :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the advice to those applicable. People are still missing the point though. I've said that this isnt about a faulty light, and I have no problems in fixing the faulty light that completely devastates my tenants life in every way. The point is about work that is undertaken without my authority as the owner of the flat. As QTPie kindly points out above, my fridge in in perfect working order, but what if the tenant decides that a new one is needed? Should the LA just go ahead and replace that, charge me for it, and not inform me of any decisions? Or they spill something on the carpet and decide to replace it, charging moi without consultation? Its unfortunate this had to be done with a light fitting as an example, for a relatively small amount of money (well, technically I guess its fortunate in that case) but the point is about the principle of the matter.

I merely wanted advice or some official body I could talk to in order to get information regarding this situation, but it seems that Wednesdays are tetchy days to ask for advice around here!! :rolleyes:

Imp wrote:

I haven't a clue what this means,

... then why bother posting? Never heard of 'tongue-in-cheek?'

And I'm sorry to rant, but I feel that I must attempt to defend myself against the albeit good advice, but at the same time personal attack on myself from clutton. Clutton, as said, you've given some great advice there, to which I thank you, but I find the post rather demeaning, and since you know absolutely nothing about me, I thought i'd enlighten.

I am very new to this game, and am only renting my flat since I have split from my partner and can no longer afford the mortgage payments on my own, so it was a decision out of desparation, not one in which I wish to become professional at the business. I sought initial consulation from an FA who referred me to the LA I am with. They informed me they would sort everything out and that my worry would be minimal. I decided to use a LA as opposed to acting as LL myself as I do not have the time to deal with it, working full time hours and part time weekend hours, and assumed that they would keep me appraised of every event that occurred in the flat! They asked me if I wanted to pay for the tenants bed covers, so why not this?! So yes, I do have NO idea how to be a landlord, so I'd like to thank you for your kind words and welcoming me into the community. I feel refreshed to have met someone like you <ducks out of the way of the barrage of flamming thats bound to ensue>

So please, for those that have constructive comments, I'd appreciate hearing them, possibly without a sarcastic or demeaning underlying tone. I'm literally riding the wave at the moment until the housing market picks up so I can sell the place and be done with it, so do appreciate assistance, I'm just sorry I seem to have so many peoples backs up with a genuine query!! I appreciate that my method of demanding the work undone and a full refund was a bit childish and counter-productive, and thank those for their, again, constructive input!

Anyway, as promised, an update. I spoke with the FA that referred the LA to me and he said he would attempt contact with them. Lo-and-behold a phone call from one of them today, I will get an email from them with the break down of costs and take it from there. Of course if the work is acceptable I'll accept the payment, but demand that any further work undertaken, no matter how small the cost, be run passed me. Like I said, I'm not in this to make money, but merely to stay afloat, so I need to know all costs so I can balance my bank accounts. If I dont make the correct mortgage payments into the mortgage account, I get charged for going overdrawn, so this is all really important to me, whereas it may seem silly to you.

Decadent_Fool

How would you feel if the tenant wanted to claim money back through having an unsafe hallway, with the potential for slips/trips/falls? What if they took your lack of getting it fixed as a sign that you can't be bothered, and decided to move out, leaving you with a void fopr perhaps a couple of months.

Yes, the letting agent was wrong, but it's done; suck it up, spell out to the agent that it shouldn't happen again, and be grateful that at least the light is fixed.

barnaby-bear

chrispyphillips wrote: »

Nope, I'm here, and starting to wish I hadnt bothered!!! :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the advice to those applicable. People are still missing the point though. I've said that this isnt about a faulty light, and I have no problems in fixing the faulty light that completely devastates my tenants life in every way. The point is about work that is undertaken without my authority as the owner of the flat. As QTPie kindly points out above, my fridge in in perfect working order, but what if the tenant decides that a new one is needed? Should the LA just go ahead and replace that, charge me for it, and not inform me of any decisions? Or they spill something on the carpet and decide to replace it, charging moi without consultation? Its unfortunate this had to be done with a light fitting as an example, for a relatively small amount of money (well, technically I guess its fortunate in that case) but the point is about the principle of the matter.

I merely wanted advice or some official body I could talk to in order to get information regarding this situation, but it seems that Wednesdays are tetchy days to ask for advice around here!! :rolleyes:



... then why bother posting? Never heard of 'tongue-in-cheek?'

And I'm sorry to rant, but I feel that I must attempt to defend myself against the albeit good advice, but at the same time personal attack on myself from clutton. Clutton, as said, you've given some great advice there, to which I thank you, but I find the post rather demeaning, and since you know absolutely nothing about me, I thought i'd enlighten.

I am very new to this game, and am only renting my flat since I have split from my partner and can no longer afford the mortgage payments on my own, so it was a decision out of desparation, not one in which I wish to become professional at the business. I sought initial consulation from an FA who referred me to the LA I am with. They informed me they would sort everything out and that my worry would be minimal. I decided to use a LA as opposed to acting as LL myself as I do not have the time to deal with it, working full time hours and part time weekend hours, and assumed that they would keep me appraised of every event that occurred in the flat! They asked me if I wanted to pay for the tenants bed covers, so why not this?! So yes, I do have NO idea how to be a landlord, so I'd like to thank you for your kind words and welcoming me into the community. I feel refreshed to have met someone like you <ducks out of the way of the barrage of flamming thats bound to ensue>

So please, for those that have constructive comments, I'd appreciate hearing them, possibly without a sarcastic or demeaning underlying tone. I'm literally riding the wave at the moment until the housing market picks up so I can sell the place and be done with it, so do appreciate assistance, I'm just sorry I seem to have so many peoples backs up with a genuine query!! I appreciate that my method of demanding the work undone and a full refund was a bit childish and counter-productive, and thank those for their, again, constructive input!

Anyway, as promised, an update. I spoke with the FA that referred the LA to me and he said he would attempt contact with them. Lo-and-behold a phone call from one of them today, I will get an email from them with the break down of costs and take it from there. Of course if the work is acceptable I'll accept the payment, but demand that any further work undertaken, no matter how small the cost, be run passed me. Like I said, I'm not in this to make money, but merely to stay afloat, so I need to know all costs so I can balance my bank accounts. If I dont make the correct mortgage payments into the mortgage account, I get charged for going overdrawn, so this is all really important to me, whereas it may seem silly to you.

All the fridge replacing/bed linen stuff etc is optional stuff i.e. if you didn't do it there's no come back on you... repairing broken stuff is your responsibility though and the LA has acted in your best business interests by sourcing the repair timely and cheaply. Most LAs undertake minor *essential* works for LLs without consultation, the cost of to-ing and fro-ing over a tiny minor repair at 40 pounds makes the admin. costs go up, costing LLs more in the long run. For such a tiny costing repair that you couldn't have arranged cheaper most LLs wouldn't want to be pestered and you have essentially entered into a business and will need to live by industry practice, getting this upset and toy-throwing over such a tiny thing will only harm your own interests (LA may not be willing to source mates-rates for repairs again and arranging it will be a whole lot more hassle for you). Your personal reasons for being a LL and personal finances aren't really the tenants concerns and they are paying for a professional service not for some nutter to go in (just because they are away at weekends - you can't do this just because you used to live there!) and remove repairs over a squabble.

m_13

chrispyphillips wrote: »

... but it seems that Wednesdays are tetchy days to ask for advice around here!! :rolleyes:

I think you'll find it's Thursday

You may find a better reception on www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums.

chrispyphillips

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Most LAs undertake minor *essential* works for LLs without consultation, the cost of to-ing and fro-ing over a tiny minor repair at 40 pounds makes the admin. costs go up, costing LLs more in the long run. For such a tiny costing repair that you couldn't have arranged cheaper most LLs wouldn't want to be pestered.

Again, I agree with your point, but mine is being completely missed. They undertook the work, fine, but didnt inform me that they were doing it beforehand, nor did they inform me at a later date that it was done. I had to check my bank account, noticed the money wasnt correct, asked for a receipt, found out what the charge was for, and havent been able to get in touch to discuss the matter! And thats 4/5 days after the rent payment is made to them from the tenant!! That to me isnt very professional from their point of view! Now, because they took £40 without letting me know it was being done, my account was £40 short, and as such I've been charged for going overdrawn. So I've had to source more like £45, which wasnt my fault in the first instance. Had they told me that the work was being carried out, I could have agreed the fee, or informed them that I would have got it fixed myself, saving myself incurring a fee.

And before the 'put more money in your bank account then' brigade come out, the point would again be missed there. Had I more money to put in my accounts, I wouldnt be renting the flat.

*I dont mind the light being fixed, or the cost of repair, the point is I wasnt informed, messing up my finances, and leading to my mistrust in the LA!!! Those are the facts to concentrate on.*