Letting agents gone bust?

walshy252_2

Hi all,

Those regulars in this forum may be familiar with myself and previous issues with our letting agents as posted here.

We have since resolved those issues privately with the landlord with the help of the council but unfortunately the age old problem of the letting agent has reared it's ugly head again.

It appears from first glance that our agents have gone bust; when going round to the office to pay this months rent we found that all the signage had been changed to a different name and the offices revamped. The office was currently closed when we went round this afternoon so couldn't see if it was the same guys inside, or question what had happened, and we can't get through by phone either. Assuming they will be closed for the weekend I'd like to arm myself with as much info as possible before trying again Monday morning.

Obviously there could be a variety of reasons for the change, gone bust, change of company name, change of ownership etc.. But I'd have thought they'd have some sort of obligation to notify tennants?

Basic problems we are currently facing:

• Our original contract was with the previous letting agents, how is this affected if: a. they have simply changed names? b. They are altogether bust?
• We are currently investigating taking action against them since we are 99% certain that our deposits were not protected. Where do we stand in terms of reclaiming deposits now?
• Who do we pay our rent to?

If anybody has any info that may help, or has been in a similar situation, and and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,

Adam

bebewoo

Contact the landlord immediately to ask. Despite what you think your contract is NOT with the agency, it is with the landlord.

clutton_2

you may need to reclaim your deposit off the LL if the agent has gone bust - however recent high court cases have made this much more complicated than it used to be... so if it gets that far you will need some legal advice...

Dont pay anymore rent (but keep it) until you have in writing from your landlord who and where to pay it to

Hump

Your contract is with your landlord, if he/she wishes to employ the services of an agent then they may. If the lettings agent has gone bust and if the deposit was in DPS then you should be OK, if it was in either of the other 2 schemes then I'm afraid it will be gone (mydeposits and the dispute service). If it's the latter then because the lettings agent was acting on behalf of the landlord then the landlord will now have to fork out the exact amount of the deposit listed on your tenancy agreement and protect it in a scheme i.e. DPS. If they refuse then lodge papers with your County Court making a claim under s214 Housing Act 2004. It doesn't matter that the landlord may never have received the money him/herself because the agent was acting on their behalf.

Now clutton is right, the recent Court case says - in effect - that if the landlord protects your deposit before the case is heard in the court then the most you can hope for is 'costs' for bringing the claim. If your landlord is stupid and fails to protect your deposit prior to the hearing then the judge can force your landlord to give you 3x the deposit.

A sensible landlord will take the hit and protect the deposit without you actually having to apply to the court (unless they're really stupid).

This means you will be able to get your deposit back at the end of your tenancy subject to the normal conditions.

Finally if your lettings agent was a member of ARLA then they will be bonded and a bit like ATOL etc your landlord will be able to claim against the bond (or at least this is what I am led to believe)

walshy252_2

Thanks for the quick replies, we will get in touch with the landlords a.s.a.p and see what they say. If it is a simple case of changing premises, I'm assuming it'll be down to us to have to find out where they have moved to and make our way to the new premises to pay rent?

Should the letting agents have notified us of the change?

tbs624

Your contract is with the LL, as a previous poster has said.

You are legally entitled to have the name of your LL,and an address for him/her, by requesting in writing that the info be given to you by the LA ( they would have 21 days from receipt of your request, in which to supply the info) Obviously if the LA has gone under this doesn't help you sopay 4 quid to HM Land Registry and check the address details held there for your LL.

If your LL does not have a BTL mortgage or Consent to Let on a residential mortgage the address held by the LR may simply be your home address but it is worth checking as a start.

It may be that your LL does not yet realise that the LA has sunk - often the first the LL knows of an LA problem is when their Ts rent payment fails to get forwarded. If an LA was holding the deposit and becomes insolvent, it is down to the LL to replace the deposit.

Check with DPS, TDS, mydeposits so that you know for sure whether your tenancy deposit was registered

You could also talk to the local Trading Standards Office about the LA.

KittyLady

Curious, would Star be your agent? If they are then I have more info.