Advice re letting agent

flaura

we had tenants move into our porperty on the 21st October via a local letting agent. however we haven't had the rent via the agent yet.. depiste promises of the cheques in the post etc..

any advice on how to get around the situation and any advice on "how long" it should take - they advised that they pay within 5 working days of receiving the rent from the tenant.

what to do what to do?

richardginger

Very often the tennants pay a little bit late, specially if payment day falls on a weekend or bank holiday etc but in this case the tennant should have paid by cleared funds on the day of moving in and you should have certainly been paid on the day. I would personaly pester the agent and demand the money you are owed and advise them that you are not happy. Good luck . . .

flaura

They did pay on exactly that day - I in fact bumped into them when I was mowing the grass and they said so much and so has the agent..

we since agreed to allow them to pay on the 1st of the month so they can pay their rent first.... (they are paying us the extra week on the 21st...)

Pester pester pester it is.... I actually quite enjoy being annoying and harrasing people... grrrrr perhaps i'll tell them i want cleared funds by friday plus interest that we should have had.. had the money been in our aco!!!! not thiers since the 21st.

Fire_Fox

Watch your letting agent like a hawk - mine was a late payer and went into receivership taking several landlord's rent and damage deposits with her. Complain in writing to the agent and consider appointing someone else.

simpywimpy

I agree, if the agent isn't doing what they are paid for, find someone else or just collect the rent yourself.

Our ex-agent was less than helpful when the tenant ran off owing 5wks rent

flaura

mmmm - I'd happily do it myself.

I have just composed and email but am waiting for a call back...

any advice on notice i might have to give to the agent?

is there a legal bod here?

chappers

I used a letting agent to find me some tenants the first time I rented one of my properties, but never again.
After nearly 2 months of being fobbed off I turned up at their office and refused to leave until I had the first months rent and the deposit. Thankfully these crooks are now out of business.

Fire_Fox

flaura wrote: »

mmmm - I'd happily do it myself.

I have just composed and email but am waiting for a call back...

any advice on notice i might have to give to the agent?

is there a legal bod here?

You need to read through your contract with the lettings agency. Deal with the missing money in writing by recorded delivery not casual e-mail which they can easily say they didn't receive/ didn't check due to staff absence etc. If they are crooks, they will spot amateur actions a mile off: are you a member of a landlord's association?

Jowo_2

Does your agent belong to a professional body like ARLA - these organisations insist that their agents have knowledge of housing law, protect the clients money, have a code of ethics, indemnity insurance, a dispute/complaints procedure and so forth?

Anybody can set themselves up as an agent and cowboys shun these professional bodies because they can't be bothered to pay the fees, can't make the entry criteria and because they know they can't dip into company funds like a piggy bank. The industry is plagued with phoenix companies - rogues who abscond with tenants rent and deposits, who dissolve the companies and set up new ones to carry on trading elsewhere.

Here's how to find a good agency

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/agents.htm

Check the status of the company on the companies house website via their webcheck service - are they long established? have they changed name? are their accounts or reports overdue?

If the lack of rental income persists, you will have to direct the tenants to pay you directly, sack the agency (check the contract terms) and take them to court for the missing rent (small claims) but the latter action isn't worth it for a rogue agency as they'll just dissolve it and move on.

princeofpounds

You need to get serious. Look at your contract - this will dictate how and when rent is to be passed onto you. Copy the passages into a letter and send it recorded delivery, pointing out that they are in breach of your contract and that you will take legal advice if the payment is not received in the next 7 (or however many) days.

You can also issue an instruction to your tenants to pay you the rent directly for future payments, but you have to write the proper notice in writing. It's a Section 13 for rent increases, I can't recall if it's the same for changing payment details, but landlordzone will tell you.

You must keep your receivables to a minimum, because you will have little protection as an unsecured creditor if the agent skips town or folds.

There are pl

DVardysShadow

And don't forget to ensure that the tenants' deposit is put in a protection scheme. Check too which scheme - there are 3, 2 take the deposit and the 3rd allows LL's and Agents to keep the deposit, but provides insurance. Do not let your Agent use the insurance route, because it appears the protection is lost if the premium is not paid [perhaps someone will confirm - certainly there seem to be some tenants around who have been notified that their deposit is no longer protected]. As LL, you will be liable if Agent runs away with the deposit - both for the deposit and for the 3 times deposit penalty for not protecting it.