LL Moving Out Costs - I broke Tenancy

lilacgirl_2

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on whether we should be paying what the Agents have deducted or should we try to argue it out (landlord fees)

Signed 12 months (big mistake by us) after 2 months didnt want to live in that area anymore so advertised the house on a free ads site to find a tenant to replace us, found a lady and i told her she'd have to go through the agent which she did, they went mad at me for advertising when i shouldnt have, the only reason i did this was to save on any fees they would pass on to us.

after 3 months we ended our tenancy as the lady wanted the house, she has now moved in, we are out and at the stage of returning our deposit, the agent wants to deduct:

58.75 check out fee
375.00 plus vat for Landlords fee
200 to be held towards gardening costs until they get a proper estimate.

so out of our deposit of 935, they want to deduct 699.38, would you say they are right in what they are allowed to deduct?

I just cant see what the landlords fee is for, we paid fees when we moved and so has the new tenant, hasnt it in effect cost the landlord nothing?

the deposit has been protected by a company which allows the agents to hold the money and the deposit protection people are only there for disputes

Any help and advice would be appreciated, thanks lilac x

00ec25

if you do not open a dispute with the protection service then they will simply accept the agency claim at face value and deduct what the agency tells them in the belief you have accepted it and not objected

thats what the deposit protection service is all about!

the agency wants a fee for having to arranmge a new tenant, they normally charge the LL and the tenat some fees for this, the fact they cannot charge the new tenant because that person did n ot come through them does not necessarily mean that the LL will not have to pay the agency for the fact the tenant has changed, as this cost to the LL is becuase you left then the LL is within their rights to seek to get you to pay for it as your are the defaulter. You need to argue this through the deposit service to establish what the "LL fee" relates to and for them to prove under the terms of the copntract and geenral housing law why you should have to pay it

N79

No doubt the LL's charges are the fees he pays the agent for finding and approving a new T. While the act of double charging both the LL and incoming Ts by agencies is morally dubious it is legal and sadly normal practice. Since you are the one breaking the contract you are liable for the LL's costs. 375 sounds high but not off the scale of reasonableness.

I would ask for a breakdown of this charge to better understand it. If it is clearly identified in the LL - agent contract as a charge associated with new Ts then you will end up paying it.

PasturesNew

When the agent finds the landlord a tenant, the landlord also often has to pay a fee.
As you broke the tenancy, the landlord has had to pay that fee again, often a month's rent.

Check out fee - these are common/usual, doesn't look too much.

£200 held until they get a proper price, seems fair in the circumstances.

Overall, I think you've got off lightly. Your agent etc seem to be fair and reasonable.

lilacgirl_2

I understand that there will be some sort of costs but 375 plus vat seems too much, unfortunately for us we rented through one of them agents that charge for every little thing and their small print is about 5 pages long!

thanks lilac

moromir

lilacgirl wrote:

one of them agents that charge for every little thing and their small print is about 5 pages long!

If they have a thorough fine print then you will probably find the answers to the questions in your OP there.

I agree with the others, the charges look reasonable in the circumstances. I would ask for a copy of the gardening invoice once its been done for confirmation of costs.