Do I have to pay for "preparation of documents"?

G_M

They could then argue that you agreed to pay for 'prep of docs', they prepared docs, so now you should pay. They have undertaken the work you agreed for them to do.

Whether the charge is reasonable for the amount of work is another matter.

Liss_2

Hmmm, ok. Think I will write them the letter as advised and then see what the CAB have to say. Thanks for all the advice, will let you know what happens.

Fire_Fox

I can't see any need for the CAB to get involved, they are very stretched at present.

Enfieldian

Agents like to make money froim both the LL and the Tenant, that seems to be standard across the industry.

If the charge was listed in the breakdown of moving costs then by implication of originally wanting to move in you appear to have accepted it already.

All the CAB will say is that "Agents are allowed to charge tenants fees, even in the event of either party changing their mind and there are no set scales"

clutton_2

why did you pull out.. ?

if you accepted a tenanty they would have proceeded on the basis that you were a genuine tenant.. why shouldn't they be reimbursed for their time in credit checking you etc etc ?

""We both know that photocopy/printing a tenancy and adding a name takes 5 mins and tenants are frequently charged above £75 for this simple task. Not sure what your point is there."

i get so sick of all this "its only 5 minutes" business... as a LL and LA I have to be absolutely sure the AST is correct, different tenants have different requirements and sometimes new clauses are added; i have to post the AST to the tenant in advance, giving them time to take it to CAB to have it checked out; i have to meet up with the tenants to get it signed..... go through the agreement with them in detail making sure they understand what they are signing, get them to sign every page; show them the property file; waterstopcock; meters; do an inventory (at least an hour)

LAs cannot win....

so the five minutes... adds up .........................

Liss_2

The credit check consisted of me taking in bank statements, as far as I know, no third party was involved. I understand that LA's need to make money, what I am disputing is that I was never told that I would still be liable for any charges should I not complete the whole process and move in. Naive maybe, that is why I went to the CAB, to check whether I was in the right or not.