Legal Advice Required on Rental Situation -Opinions welcome

Smiley82

Okay...I need some advice here, and before anyone says anything, I have tried Legal Aid and Shelter and have not been able to get any response from any of them (does Shelter ever answer the phone?!!!).

We are currently looking to find a new place to rent. We approached an agent, viewed a property and subsequently made an offer on the property. At this time we paid a holding deposit.

The agent then made the offer to the landlord, and we received an email in writing stating 'your offer has been accepted by the Landlord on XXX property' subject to reference checks.

We then provided all documents requested and have been told by the letting agent that our reference check was fine.

Today, 6 days after our offer was accepted and deposit was paid, we received a phone call from the letting agent saying that the Landlord has decided to remove his offer. We did not get given any reason. The agent is as surprised as us. This has left us in a very difficult situation as our move date is nearing and we thought it was sorted. We have now wasted 6 days not looking for a new place. Not to mention the costs we have incurred in gaining references (from Accountants @ 25/letter!) and time spent. We will be homeless in less than a week, and now have to rush to try find somewhere else.

What I want to know....is was there a contract? We have in writing, that 'the offer has been accepted by the landlord'. We have passed all checks and nothing has been wrong at our end. They have simply just removed the offer. We are now screwed

What are our options? Can we get the fees we have paid refunded? Not to mention they still have not refunded our deposit paid, and it was only when WE asked, that they said they would do it......

I know our contract, if we have one, is between ourselves and the agent. If the agent hasn't covered themselves with paperwork from the landlord prior to offering us a contract, that is a different issue.


One very unhappy person!

(Probably a little too angry at the moment to be objective....so really....any advice at all is greatly appreciated!)

hearts

Best advice you'll get. Forget it and move on.

HazelS_2

I would say that you are perfectly entitled to your deposit back. YOU didn't change your mind, THEY did.

You could be really cheeky and suggest that they pay the fees you incurred in getting references... but I wouldn't hold your breath, and it's best not to pee off the agency - you may need to rent through them at a later date!

My advice when looking for private rented accommodation is to contact your local council's Housing Department - MOST (although not all) have something called an Accredited Landlord Register - these are landlords that are checked and double checked - their properties conform to Health and Safety and Fire legislation, and the landlord is known to charge a fair rent and fair deposit system.

Good Luck!

franklee

Did the landlord (or agent) sign the tenancy agreement? If not then you don't have an agreement in place and the landlord is entitled to pull out.

As they pulled out through no fault of yours then you should get everything you paid the agent back. I doubt you can claim the fees you paid your accountant for the references.

Next time get both sides (you and the landlord) to sign the tenancy agreement a few days in advance!

clutton_2

i was in exactlay the same position as this 6 months ago and the agent gave me back all the fees i had paid (including credit check fees)

N79

While the LL should return your holding deposit and refund your application fees, whether they must do so will depend on the terms you agreed when you handed the deposit over. This will indicate whether it was a refundable deposit or not etc. If there were no written terms then it could be very hard to get your money back as it will depend on what a court decides the deposit was for and the terms attached to it.

theartfullodger

Re. Shelter answering the 'phone - er, yes they do.

Unfortunately they are very busy with so many people facing housing issues right now & they are a charity dependent on donations from all & sundry: (I'm defo. sundry). If you can support them please do.

What number were you trying? Their national number is 0808 800 4444.

Cheers!

Lodger

jojo9239

hearts wrote: »

Best advice you'll get. Forget it and move on.

Thats a bit harsh not great advice!!! You should be able to get your deposit back at least!! Good Luck I wouldnt be too happy either :mad:

princeofpounds

First, ask for a copy of the agent's T&Cs for holding deposits. That might provide you with the procedure for getting at least some of it back. Ideally you should have seen these before ever giving over a deposit.

Then you have no recourse except to sue them in the small claims court (moneyclaimonline). After a polite request, a letter before action should be sent, then the claim initiated.

The basic legal position is that you should be entitled to the deposit back, but I can't remember if they are allowed to deduct costs already incurred or not.

Smiley82

Thanks for your replies, I was hoping some more knowledgable people would be able to help.

As of this morning, we have emailed the landlord requesting our deposit to be refunded in full. I think her was perhaps just trying to hold on to it in the hope of offering us another property, as he did try and tell us about 'another property' that we would definately have no issues with the landlord about. Fingers crossed, I think that there shouldn't be too much of issue getting the holding deposit refunded.

As for the contract, we had signed it and returned it. And we had, in writing, acceptance of our offer from the Landlord. We honestly thought it was a done deal. We had even filled out the payment forms for the Bond and 1st months' rent. The agent has said that the Landlord didn't sign the contract, hence why they are able to withdraw.

When we paid the deposit, it said, in simple terms, if we pulled out, the deposit was forefeited, and if our offer wasn't accepted by the Landlord, the deposit would be refunded. The issue has come about because the offer WAS accepted by the landlord, and then 6 days later changed their mind.

We are wondering if maybe they got offered more money elsewhere, or privately without any fees? But honestly, we really thought it was a finished contract, and were packing to move.

We are now stuck with 2 working days in which to find a place before we are due to become homeless.....great situation! I suppose I was quite angry when I originally posted this, and was just trying to find out if there was any recourse we could take, against the agent or landlord for our situation. Seems to be the general consensus is to 'suck it up' and move on......learn from experience that next time I need to see the Landlord's signature on the contract before I begin to make plans.

The hard thing is, once we've made the offer, paid the deposit, and had it accepted....we HAD to stop looking for places. If we'd found anything else we like, we wouldn't have been able to make an offer, as we would have lost the holding deposit we already paid. So basically, they can take your money, promise you the property, and unless you jump up and down that they sign the contract immediately, they can withdraw at any stage.

Just doesn't seem fair

Thanks for all your help guys, appreciate it.

berec1

Smiley - had the same problem late last year.

Offered, accepted and paid deposit on the Monday, references /checks approved on the Tuesday. Due to move in on the Saturday, agent rang landlord on the Wednesday to arrange a time. Lo and behold landlord announced they were actually using 2 agencies, have accepted 2 offers and are still deciding which person to give the flat to :eek:

Agent and I were furious - I suggested that they call in favours from contacts at other agencies and find another flat for me - on the basis that way they would share the admin fee and get some money for their effort, instead of none when they refunded me all my costs.

Thursday night the agent rang to tell me a flat had just come on the market at another agency (it had been a corporate let until the Thursday so was a very nice flat!) and I could view it on Friday morning - which I did. Made an offer conditional on moving in the next day, which was accepted within the hour and as my admin / references had already been checked and a deposit already paid, all I have to arrange was a bank transfer of the first months' rent and remainder of deposit that afternoon. Thanks to the miracle of Faster Payments, I could do just that.

Moved in the next day and the flat was bigger than the original, had a nicer landlord and I have loved living here. Now have to move due to an ankle injury, but again the landlord has been great throughout the injury (bought me a bigger freezer to store more food, loaned me a parking space when I needed people to drive me around).

So sometimes things can still work out for the best even with only 2 days notice...you might want to try suggesting the same to the agency on the basis that they can try to find you somewhere (and save you the hassle of having to ring around agencies in a mad panic) and get some admin money, or lose the money you paid by having to refund you.