Tenancy Agreement

muskoka

I was hoping to rent a house shortly, but having spoken to Estate Agent (been in business 30 years), they refuse to let me take away a copy of the tenancy agreement to have checked/read through at my leisure. They insist its a standard tenancy agreement (about 15 pages long). I've asked them to give me either a blank one with void across it, or email me the terms and conditions, but they refuse. They said they will sit with me & go through it all & it can take as long as neceesary, but wont let me take away a copy. I've never rented before, so am concerned. Please can you offer me your thoughts - thanks. Bear in mind, there is very little to rent round here.

moromir

Bear in mind that this agreement is their livlihood. Having a decent Tenancy Agreement drawn up is not cheap and they are trying to protect their investment.

For example, say you are a private landlord trying to 'steal' a copy of their agreement to use for your own properties, having VOID written across it won't stop you typing it up again.

If you are that concerned about the content of the agreement I suggest you take them up on their offer and ask for a quiet room on their premises in which to go through the agreement, and that way they will also be on hand if you have any questions.

clutton_2

i consider this EA attitude unlawful.... you are signing a legally binding document, and you are entitled to get independent advice as to its content and meaning....

even if you dont understand something they will explain it how they want to not necessarily how the law says it is....

most days we have unlawful clauses on ASTs here on this forum...

is he an EA-become-Letting agent due to the credit crunch or has he been a LA for 30 y ears... if so he should know better

muskoka

Thank you for your comments. Both of which are valid. I've decided to run this by my solicitor (same solicitor my family has used for years). Also, just found my solicitor is now based 5 minutes from letting agent, so I'm betting I can get this tenancy agreement checked one way or another without too much difficulty and minimal cost. Being family solicitor, shes very informal when it comes to cost - and gotta to be worth £50 to get her to look over it. And at the same time, surely the letting agent wont refuse her a copy - and if they do, then theres definitely something wrong.

moromir

muskoka wrote: »

And at the same time, surely the letting agent wont refuse her a copy - and if they do, then theres definitely something wrong.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here, as far as the Letting Agent is concerned, from their perspective I can see no difference between you requesting a copy of the tenancy agreement and your family solicitor asking for a copy.

Would an amicable solution be for your family solicitor to attend with you and go through the agreement at their offices?

clutton_2

i wou ld not want to sign an agreement with a letting agent who is this stupid and ignorant.. he wont get any better.....

muskoka

Unfortunately I spoke to my solicitor who was unable to help. She is actually a licensed conveyancer, though we approach her for whatever. She advised that she dosent deal with tenancy agreements and although she would be happy to look for me, she was no expert = so that was a waste of time.

Since then I've been in to read only the agreement and it is very long and states things like - tenant to be responsible for drain blockages and tenant responsible if appliances break and that tenant has to allow viewers if landlord decides to sell and that tenant has to allow new tenant to view when tenant coming towards end of tenancy....Again, agent point blank refusing to allow me to take copy of agreement and saying they are making no changes to it......What do I do - I have to decide by tomorrow.....:(

clutton_2

What do i do ? sign or look for somewhere else....

legally you are not responsible for repairs to appliances if they are provided by the landlord

i would not rent this place if it was me...

LuFo

clutton wrote: »

legally you are not responsible for repairs to appliances if they are provided by the landlord



If this is the case then where do I stand, as there was an extra page added to my tenancy agreement saying "tenant is responsible for all applicance repairs" (I have also read other tenants' threads whereby they are saying LL is expecting them to pay for appliance repairs/replacments) - can you point to any legislation on it please?

muskoka

Folks - I've pulled out. If I'm having these issues now, what issues will I have down the road. I'm going to find somewhere else.

1 - agent not Arla registered
2 -15 pge conyract full of nonsense
3 - Already cost me £150 reference fees - though I was paying 6 months up front. Lost money but hey,thats life. Am sure I made right decision

Nosht

Plenty sample Tenancy Agreements available on various websites.

N.