Letting Agents taking money from rent payments?!

chrispyphillips

Cheers lumps.

I realise my initial post may have come across as being slightly arrogant with the whole issue of the light, but the light isnt really the issue, its the attitude of my LA's.

I just cant understand peoples 'Holier than Thou' attitude around here. You should see some of the other posts from people asking genuine questions and getting absolute tripe back. You could come around to my place and ask about something you know nothing about that I'm an expert in and I could give you a gob full, but I'd rather find a constructive way of helping you out. Shame some posters around here feel they have carte blanche to act however they feel just because of their knowledge base. They clearly havent checked out the 'forum etiquette' we're supposed to adhere to >>>>>>>>>>>>

ladylumps45

well i understand where youre coming from as my husband has had no end of troubles with the letting agent he used for things similar to yours.its not the point of what it is so much but the fact they go ahead without your permission.hope you get it sorted and il check your thread.

chrispyphillips

ladylumps45 wrote: »

well i understand where youre coming from as my husband has had no end of troubles with the letting agent he used for things similar to yours.its not the point of what it is so much but the fact they go ahead without your permission.hope you get it sorted and il check your thread.

Yeah I read your thread earlier. At least my guys are nice enough. Smiling Assassins I suppose!!:rolleyes:

I'll update tomorrow hopefully once I sort things out tonight!! All this and a stag do to book!! Its too much!

Ste_C

What sort of advice were you expecting?

A bit of common sense would have seen you send a letter to the agent expressing your concern that they'd done this work without agreeing with you first and that in future you'd appreciate if they would get your permission. End of problem.

clutton_2

crispy in my post i said

""how on earth can you even think about treating your tenants like this ? what a silly and childish response to your assumption that you have been ripped off for £20

did you get a Periodic Electrical Inspection done on your property by the way before you rented out ?

Did you get a CORGI gas safety landlords certificate done ?

Did you get your lenders permission ?

Did you get ANYthing in writing for your tenants protection ?

Has your tenants deposit been protected under one of the Schemes ?

Do you have proper insurance ? - they wont pay if there is a fire and your electrics are not certificated......


if you find these suggestions UNhelpful - then god help us all -

amateur landlords like you kill people every year - and yes - this is a dramatic statment - and almost certainly your hall light will not kill anyone - but your whole initial post reeked of childish toy-throwing -

However i am glad to see that you at least acknowledged the foolisheness of your initial response to a broken light

i will continue to call you amateur, and if you find that patronising, hard luck . It really bothers me that folks in your position think "i cannot sell my house, so I'll rent it out, then do a very little research, then find themselves in the poo with a bad agent and want sympathy"

You are now running a business, yet you are worried about £40 forcing you into overdraft and bank charges ?

This is astonishingly unprofessional and unbusiness like - what will you do if the boiler breaks down - where will you find £2000+ to fix it ??

AS a landlord you now have many legal responsibilities and duties to your tenant - and many of these cost money

i note that you have not responded to my list of helpful and informative questions - HAVE you done any of these things ? Has you agent told you about your legal responsibilities for all these things - and the many more which we have to comply with ?

Stop complaining about being "wronged" on here - go get yourself a proper agent who is a member of a Professional body - join National Landlords ASsociation (Iwhether you can afford it or not) and find out for yourself if your agents are doing a good job

you cannot abrogate your responsibility in law to an agent - it is down to you

i make no apology for my blunt language - as a landlord - you are responsible for other peoples lives - this is not a game just to pay your mortgage - you are providing a home for others who deserve better than you have apparently given them up to now.

i do wish you good luck - it is a difficult business and needs a lot of time devoted to it - even if you have a good agent

barnaby-bear

clutton wrote: »

crispy in my post i said

""how on earth can you even think about treating your tenants like this ? what a silly and childish response to your assumption that you have been ripped off for £20

did you get a Periodic Electrical Inspection done on your property by the way before you rented out ?

Did you get a CORGI gas safety landlords certificate done ?

Did you get your lenders permission ?

Did you get ANYthing in writing for your tenants protection ?

Has your tenants deposit been protected under one of the Schemes ?

Do you have proper insurance ? - they wont pay if there is a fire and your electrics are not certificated......


if you find these suggestions UNhelpful - then god help us all -

amateur landlords like you kill people every year - and yes - this is a dramatic statment - and almost certainly your hall light will not kill anyone - but your whole initial post reeked of childish toy-throwing -

However i am glad to see that you at least acknowledged the foolisheness of your initial response to a broken light

i will continue to call you amateur, and if you find that patronising, hard luck . It really bothers me that folks in your position think "i cannot sell my house, so I'll rent it out, then do a very little research, then find themselves in the poo with a bad agent and want sympathy"

You are now running a business, yet you are worried about £40 forcing you into overdraft and bank charges ?

This is astonishingly unprofessional and unbusiness like - what will you do if the boiler breaks down - where will you find £2000+ to fix it ??

AS a landlord you now have many legal responsibilities and duties to your tenant - and many of these cost money

i note that you have not responded to my list of helpful and informative questions - HAVE you done any of these things ? Has you agent told you about your legal responsibilities for all these things - and the many more which we have to comply with ?

Stop complaining about being "wronged" on here - go get yourself a proper agent who is a member of a Professional body - join National Landlords ASsociation (Iwhether you can afford it or not) and find out for yourself if your agents are doing a good job

you cannot abrogate your responsibility in law to an agent - it is down to you

i make no apology for my blunt language - as a landlord - you are responsible for other peoples lives - this is not a game just to pay your mortgage - you are providing a home for others who deserve better than you have apparently given them up to now.

i do wish you good luck - it is a difficult business and needs a lot of time devoted to it - even if you have a good agent

Did they do the energy efficiency HIPs thingy?

Have they submitted a tax return regarding the income and profit or lack thereof?

HAve they been giving tenant proper notice to request access?

It's awful being on the tenant end of a amature landlord, the toilet/oven breaks and they say "....but I haven't got the money until next month to do something about it....", if you can't spare £100 for a float so the agent can effect swift cheap repairs to keep the tenant happy - what happens if there is a void, the tenant loses their job, the toilet explodes poo over the house? If I was a tenant and you came in to *undo* a repair invading my right to quiet enjoyment - I'd have moved, there's a lot of competition in the rental maket, you are running a business and you are reliant on keeping your customer happy.

barnaby-bear

sirhc wrote: »

In my opinion electricity is just as dangerous as gas.

[FONT=&quot]Get it done by someone who knows what they’re doing.[/FONT]

Generally people who bodge electrics are the greatest danger to themselves and their families though - with gas you have the potential to blow up the entire street.....

franklee

chrispyphillips, If I understand this thread correctly you have given keys and full management of your property to an agent that:

1. You do not have an address for.

2. You have no way of contacting if they do not answer the phone or email.

3. That you have no written agreement with.

4. That you have no paperwork at all from so you do not know anything at all about their terms of business, in fact there are no terms.

5. That you allowed to find and install a tenant.

6. Who do not answer email or phonecalls from you and for all you know don't answer anyone else either so your tenant's reports to them will go unanswered even though they are charging you to fully manage the property.

7. That you are paying £4 a month off their standard 10% fee but do not know if they are charging VAT.

8. That you have no idea if they took a deposit off the tenant and put it in a scheme.

9. Who do not provide you with monthly statements of your account showing deductions made.

The thing you need to do now is to make sure you have a valid name and address upon which you can serve the letting agent notices as without that it's going to be impossible for you to claim against them should things deteriorate any more.

Then you need written terms of business or to cancel what you have and find a professional outfit pronto.

generaloneill

increase their rent to pay for the repair over 12 months.

The_Gimp

To the OP, get over it.

I am an agent, and on a few occasions I have to say I will get a quote, and then we just have the work carried out IF the contractor is already on site, and calling him back out will put the price up.

I would explain to the owner what has happened, in this day and age, everybody should know that £40 to fix a light is cheap as chips.

To this day, I have never had anybody make as much of a song and dance as you have by posting this.