renting question 31 March 2006 at 9:06AM in House buying, renting & selling 11 replies 741 views

claire123

hi there i've been browsing this site for a while and hoping you nice people can give me some advice not even sure this is the right place so please feel free to move. ok my landlord is selling the flat we live in which is fair enough, now when the letting agent informed us he said that one of his staff was interested in the flat and could she come and have a look. we had allowed her round 3 times twice at short notice and once on a sunday so feel we have been pretty cooperative. Last night i got a call from the agent saying this woman was on the way round with a builder no do you mind or anything. this woman arrive with her daughter her grandson a guy from the agency the builder and the builders assistant who all proceded to traipse mud over my carpets and were pulling the washing machine about. Now i am fuming :mad: and want to know what rights i have, i know i can insist on 24 hrs notice and will do but can i stop them coming round till we have moved out? bearing in mind i will need a reference from the letting agent. sorry this is a bit rambling i'm so bloody mad :mad:

bluesnice

Hi claire,
this sounds like what has just happened to me. The house I'm renting is up for sale. I decided that I want to be in when a viewing takes place and I informed the selling agent of this.

However, last week I got home mid afternoon and had been in 10 minutes when I heard the key being put into the door and then the agent appeared inside with 2 buyers waiting outside. I hit the roof and asked what the hell was he doing here. He said he'd phoned 3 times but there was no reply so had got permission to enter from the agents that manage the property for the landlady. He knows he shouldn't do that!! I told him he had no right to do that and that I should have notice and give permission etc etc. I really lost it when he asked if they could still come in then!!! I had him wincing in front of his buyers!! I was fuming. I mean really really fuming. I think i even swore at him!

My OH went crazy and we looked into our rights. Its really hard to find anything on the net, but we did fiind out that we do actually have the right to refuse entry. We also found out that if anything is broken or goes missing during a viewing we wouldn't be covered by our insurance as we are in effect 'inviting' these people into our house - like you would a friend. We have the right to at least 24hrs notice for a viewing. We also looked at our tenancy agreement which states that should the landlady wish to sell the property, viewings will only be conducted once we have been given 2 months notice to end the tenancy agreement. This was good news for us! The OH phoned the selling agent and told him that actually we don't have to allow viewings at all but we wouldn't be uncoperative unless they messed up again, we require 24 hrs notice, we will be in and will refuse a viewing if we want without explaination!

I'll find out from the OH which site he looked at for the above info and let you know.

andycarmi

Oh well not as bad as my mate who was acutally in bed at the time with his ipod on with earplugs in his ears singing away when he opened his eyes to an estate agent and 2 other people veiwing stood round his bed!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

He jump up lucky 4 him he was wearing dudds!!!! LOL. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Needles to say he went crazy :mad: when dressed!!!!
After that he put the chain on the door!!!!! (only had a front door key!!!)

sanfrancisco

This is one reason why the renting laws in this country need to be improved. Outrageous.

claire123

thanks for the replies i just can't believe how little respect some people have. The house isn't even on the market and last time i told this woman we'd be out so she couldn,t come round she said thats ok i,ve got a key! just coz she works for the agency i don,t think she should be able to come and view our flat when she feels like it :mad: can't believe how few rights you have as a tenant. well all i can say is she get a nice suprise when she finds about the pending drain work in the road which is being paid for by all the houseowners insurance, hope it costs her a bloody fortune

BobProperty

sanfrancisco wrote:

This is one reason why the renting laws in this country need to be improved. Outrageous.

Improved over what? As a tenant you have the right not to let ANYONE in the property virtually, you can change the locks so the landlord can't get in, etc. What more do you need? I've viewed (or rather tried to view) property where tenants have refused access to me and the estate agent and they are entitled to do so. Any reasonable landlord would discuss the situation with their tenants and give 24 hours notice of coming round. Anything else and a good solicitor is looking at harassment of the tenant by the landlord. I suggest it is more ignorance of the existing law (and possibly some people trying to keep others in ignorance) than needing more protection. Rant over.

5limJim

BobProperty wrote:

Improved over what? As a tenant you have the right not to let ANYONE in the property virtually, you can change the locks so the landlord can't get in, etc. What more do you need? I've viewed (or rather tried to view) property where tenants have refused access to me and the estate agent and they are entitled to do so. Any reasonable landlord would discuss the situation with their tenants and give 24 hours notice of coming round. Anything else and a good solicitor is looking at harassment of the tenant by the landlord. I suggest it is more ignorance of the existing law (and possibly some people trying to keep others in ignorance) than needing more protection. Rant over.

and knowing a couple of people who work for letting agents as well, the law is very much on the side of the tenants... I have seen landlords who have gone months without rent because the tenants havent paid and the whole process of even approaching eviction is very long winded.... you'd think the tenancy agreement/contract would work both ways... Landlord agrees to rent the property out and make all repairs in timely manner... Tenant agrees to keep property in tidy condition and to pay rent on time, either party breaks these terms and the contract should be null and void.... anywho, think we have gone off topic.

david29dpo

this is interesting, i have a house rented out for the last 12 months. i used a agent to find a tenant and there fee was 75% of the first months rent, after that, the agent has nothing to do with it. the other option was to pay the agent 10% of the rent every month and they do everything,i.e. collect rent etc. after 6 months the contract goes to one month. i am thinking of selling the house soon and hoping the tenant will buy it, they have hinted they are interested. the tenant has been excellent and i would never do anything to upset them but the tenant or i was never given anything from the agent about such things you have mentioned. i will go back to the agent and try my best to find out what rights the tenant and landlord have if the house goes on the market.

BobProperty

"(and possibly some people trying to keep others in ignorance)"
Not too many letting agents are likely to tell landlords or especially tenants what they can do otherwise they won't be employed by landlords or make any money off tenants. I went on an RLA landlords course a few years back and some of the things I learnt were amazing. I reckon that you can get away with paying a deposit and one months rent and stay in a property for about 9 months the way the law is at present.

£Ronnie

BobProperty wrote:

" I reckon that you can get away with paying a deposit and one months rent and stay in a property for about 9 months the way the law is at present.

Now that's Money Saving Expertise!!:rotfl: :rotfl:

BobProperty

I'm not recommending that you do it, I'm just saying that is the way the system can be exploited.