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Estate Agent Renewal after 9 years
Comments
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BTW, the judge did say that he thought Foxtons' 11% renewal commission was pretty high.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0
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if the agent has not contacted the tenant or the LL for a whole year - how do they justify £400 ???0
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if the agent has not contacted the tenant or the LL for a whole year - how do they justify £400 ???
They don't have to justify it if
a) That was in the contract, and
b) Both parties understood the contract (or should have understood the contract)
There seems to be a misconception in this country that people are or should be protected from their own mistakes in making a bad contract. The point about the Foxtons contract was that it was misleading. As we have not seen the terms of this estate agent, it is impossible to say whether those were also misleading.
Finally, say an estate agent offered to work on either of the following sets of terms (at the customer's choice):
a) 20% of the first year's rent, but nothing thereafter
b) 10% of the rent however long the tenant stays in place.
Is it obvious which is fairer?No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
We are trying to clarify what it is in the contract regarding the renewal, which isn't very clear, contracts should be entered Ad Idem. I do not want the agent to do anything with respect to the the property or tenant. However if they are charging what is the charge for?
Up to now we have paid £6400 for the introduction and now a further £400 is being asked. It just feels wrong in principal.0 -
We are trying to clarify what it is in the contract regarding the renewal, which isn't very clear, contracts should be entered Ad Idem. I do not want the agent to do anything with respect to the the property or tenant. However if they are charging what is the charge for?
Up to now we have paid £6400 for the introduction and now a further £400 is being asked. It just feels wrong in principal.
Lets start at the beginning. Did your elderly relative understand the contract?
how much is the annual rental? It seems impossible to comment on the amounts you are querying without knowing this.
However, assuming that the ongoing commission is relatively modest as a percentage, I do not see what is wrong in principle with it. I should just add that I have an arrangement with the agent I use whereby I pay him 8% of the rent received in the first year and 6% thereafter. This gives him an incentive to find tenants who are decent and will stay for a number of years. I have no problem with paying him this amount.
on the other hand if your elderly relative is paying a much higher percentage, this may indicate that she did not know what she was letting herself in for.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Firstly thanks for your reply.
My relative has used the agent for this and other properties so trusted them, English is not her first language and she is quite elderly, properties were inherited from her late husband, so no knowledge of industry. However having now looked at the contract my self I find it very vague and unclear this has been seconded by the other estate agents I have shown the paperwork too.
As my relative had other properties with them they offered her a rate 7%+VAT for renewal and last year £400. The annual rent has changed a couple of times since 2000 but was around £10k+ pa, so roughly charging £700 commission for the introduction and not much more.(the tenants have not even officially agreed to stay with the agent)
Usually in my experience estate agents do not charge after the third year at most.
The partner of the estate agent has said if I promise to pass over future properties exclusively to them then he will waive the charge. I said we no longer require their services so they have said pay the last fee and then they will call it quits.
Interestingly an employee of his off the record said to me he wouldn't personally pay the fee.
I think as suggested speak to the OFT, show all the paperwork and then move on as per their suggestion.0 -
if the agent is charging for tenancy renewal and that has only happened twice in 9 years - why are they charging £400 per year ???0
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That question has been answered several times already. Why don't you read the answers?if the agent is charging for tenancy renewal and that has only happened twice in 9 years - why are they charging £400 per year ???
To the OP: 7% initial commission followed by 4% renewal is not extravagant. If she negotiated the terms of the contract, which it sounds like she did, then the regulations probably don't apply. They are for companies using standard form contracts. Depends how much negotiating was done.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Sorry not very clear, 7% every year for 7 years, last year reduced to £400 and again this year requested another £400.0
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I should just add that I have an arrangement with the agent I use whereby I pay him 8% of the rent received in the first year and 6% thereafter. This gives him an incentive to find tenants who are decent and will stay for a number of years.
Out of interest, could you explain this please? Is it 8% for the first year of each new tenant and then 6% for each year that that tenant stays there? In which case, wouldn't the incentive be to find new tenants every year to keep the commission at the higher level?0
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