Question re: Rental holding fee

Dave_Simmons

Can anyone give me a straight answer to this question.

Due to the rapid turnover of rentals in our area we placed a £200 holding fee at 14:30 Friday 13th so that we would have somewhere to live on completion day. Today by co incidence a rental property that we really wanted was offered back to us as the owners had now said they would leave 2 weeks early to match our completion date.

Q. Does the holding fee have a cooling off period like other purchases.
Q. What's the chances of getting it back if I ask at 09:00 Monday.

llh189

I very much doubt it!

It is rather like them being offered another holding deposit of £250 by someone else and giving you back your money and thinking that that makes it ok!

On the other hand they might just view it that they merely lost a weekend of viewing and give you the cash back as they are nice people but letting agents are pretty money grabbing!

Although it will also depend on the paperwork that you signed and the small print of that document, by it's nature a holding deposit is very different from a deposit against damage to fixtures and fitting, even if your holding deposit then forms part of your normal deposit!

Dave_Simmons

llh189 wrote: »

I very much doubt it!

It is rather like them being offered another holding deposit of £250 by someone else and giving you back your money and thinking that that makes it ok!

On the other hand they might just view it that they merely lost a weekend of viewing and give you the cash back as they are nice people but letting agents are pretty money grabbing!

Although it will also depend on the paperwork that you signed and the small print of that document, by it's nature a holding deposit is very different from a deposit against damage to fixtures and fitting, even if your holding deposit then forms part of your normal deposit!

Interesting view, if you are still there, what would your answer be if I said I paid the deposit by debit card over the phone but have not signed or filled in any paperwork as that only arrived in the post this morning.

blackshirtuk

Even though you didn't sign anything, by paying the money you have accepted the T & C's of the contract.

You paid because you wanted to secure a rental, now you don't want it I am afraid that will probably cost you, sorry

tbs624

Did you actually physically view the property and discuss any of this in person, or was it all conducted by phone after you had seen an advert?

If you pay a holding fee then the LA should explain the Ts and Cs , and let you have sight of the tenancy agreement itself, *before* you do so. Did they actually tell you exactly what the holding deposit was for and under what circumstances they would consider refunding the holding deposit?

The usual guidance is that if you subsequently withdraw, the LA may only retain a "reasonable" amount which reflects their actual costs incurred, and some may feel that it is unlikely that the LA will have undertaken a huge amount of work in such a short space of time.

You can clarify your specific situation with your local Trading Standards Officer.

Holding deposits are fraught with difficulty from both sides, so my suggestion would be to try to avoid LAs who request them.

Dave_Simmons

Dave_Simmons wrote: »

Can anyone give me a straight answer to this question.

Due to the rapid turnover of rentals in our area we placed a £200 holding fee at 14:30 Friday 13th so that we would have somewhere to live on completion day. Today by co incidence a rental property that we really wanted was offered back to us as the owners had now said they would leave 2 weeks early to match our completion date.

Q. Does the holding fee have a cooling off period like other purchases.
Q. What's the chances of getting it back if I ask at 09:00 Monday.

For anyone that's interested I spoke to Your move who insisted if it was them they would have given me some or all of that deposit back due to the times scales involved. I challenged the other LA with this info and mentioned that CAB had said the same, they agreed to refund me 50% £100. good result under the circumstances

blackshirtuk

Well done! better than i expected!