agent charging tenant hidden fee's

neddie

Hi, I am renting a property and must make it available for the EA representative to come round and check the house every quarter, this is fine, however because the owner of the property (reasonable people, so have no prob with this) has contacted me directly and asked if they can come over themselves and check the property - they live in a different town and are coming at a mutually convenient time when they are passing through next week. I ignored my letter about the property visit from the agent.....

My issue is, they have sent me another letter making their own appt to see me and telling me that if I am not in they will deduct £20 from my deposit and will continue to deduct £20 for each appt they invent there after until they catch me in!.... I rang and explained that owner was coming round and also explained that they had not listed this "fining" in the tenancy agreement, so what made them think they could do this, the attitude was "we can do what we like" and my worry is if they have this hidden charge, what other hidden charges have they got, so is it legal for them to invent this fine? it may only be £20 but it is the principle.
(I have managed to convince them that they do not need to come round when the owner is coming round themselves)

Thank you.

heather123_2

The agent cannot charge you anything unless it is in your Agreement - also, interestingly enough if they have for example a Tenancy Renewal fee written in they cannot charge you VAT on top, unless the whole total (fee plus VAT) was written in the Agreement.

If the Agent is managing the property it should be them who does the viewings (you may like to check the wording of your agreement - if it says that the Landlord or his Agent can do the viewing you are covered but if it only says one or the other you could be caught out).

lynzpower

AFAIK there is no way that they can do this. but id check it out with trading standards.

And of course NAME & SHAME

neddie

Hi, Thanks, I knew I was right! it was the EA "we know best and can do do what we like" attitude that made me quite angry.

I don't mind the owners coming round I know from history that they are ok people as I have contacted them direct before when I had prob with water leak (EA slow and dragging feet) owner sorted it out for me.

heather123_2

Which agent did you use? Just being nosy!! I have a good idea...

neddie

better not say!!!

musey

There is absolutely no way the agents can do this.

Even if it states in your tenancy agreemnt that they can it does not make it legal, I would certainly think it would be classed as an unfair term as it infringes on your rights. In fact if you want to be arsey you don't ever need to let the into the property if you don't want you are entitled to "quiet enjoyment" during your tenancy. In saying that, that attitude may mean that they would recommend to the owners that you be served notice to quit and would be looking for new accomodation. As always in this type of case I would advise a quick look at Shelter's website or a call to your local council's tenancy advice section to set your mind at rest.

Have a frank discussion with the owners when they come round, they may want to warn the agents not to be so heavy handed lest they run the risk of loosing a good tenant!

jonnyw_2

Tell your landlord. Its him you are renting from.

I let a flat via agents and had no idea the amount of money they were charging tenants for this type of thing.