Letting agent not paying me owed money!!

mchale

nickpike wrote: »

Hi all, I'm in a bit of a fix. I've been letting my property with Clearlets based in Kircaldy, Fife, for about 2 years now. Up until now they've been fine. However the first sign of a problem was in December when they paid me late. The tenants paid on time however they were a week late paying me and it was only when I chased it up did they transfer the money.
Now, they're late again. However the problem is no one is returning my calls, the only people I can speak to are receptionists in either the branch or the head office which is useless as all they keep saying is they will pass on my problem to the accounts department. There's no direct line to any accounts department or anyone higher than a receptionist!! Since the 15th Jan (when they were due to pay me) I've placed 8 phone calls and sent 3 emails all ignored and not responded to. They've not offered any explanation as to why I've not been paid as the receptionists cannot access my full account.
I've gone through my contract and it states that there's a £250 +VAT termination of contract but surely that's null and void since they've not fulfilled their obligations and paid me what's owed.

So I suppose the questions are;
a) has anyone else had an experience like this either with Clearlets or anyone else,
b) what routes should I go down from here to get my money
c) and if I were to cancel the contract, what rights would I have not to have to pay the £250+vat and go with a different agents

Thanks in advance

Nick

Its not a theory it's in black and white

DVardysShadow

mchale wrote: »

Its not a theory it's in black and white

Interesting theory. It does say in black and white:

nickpike wrote: »

Hi all, I'm in a bit of a fix. I've been letting my property with Clearlets based in Kircaldy, Fife, for about 2 years now. Up until now they've been fine. However the first sign of a problem was in December when they paid me late. The tenants paid on time however they were a week late paying me and it was only when I chased it up did they transfer the money.

If 'they' refers to the tenant, then the OP is contradicting himself. It only makes sense if 'they' refers to the Letting Agent.

It seems to me that it is you who has not read it properly.

agrinnall

^^^
mchale, I suggest you do what DVardysShadow says before criticising other people's posts.

mchale

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Interesting theory. It does say in black and white:


If 'they' refers to the tenant, then the OP is contradicting himself. It only makes sense if 'they' refers to the Letting Agent.

It seems to me that it is you who has not read it properly.

Agreed, but OP doesn't say tenants have paid Jan rent to LA, but OP does states Dec Rent was paid by tenants on time.
So we don't know who's fault the non payment is.

tbs624

I agree that the OP does not make matters clear on *who* is paying late but if the T is at fault for this month the LA would surely be only too happy to point that out to the OP.

OP- if you are still owed money by the end of this month and you get nowhere with either the branch or the HO you could always try the MD of the Clear Group:

[text deleted by MSE Forum Team] Clear Group Scotland Ltd, 272 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JR

In the meantime, I agree with the others that I would tell the Ts that they are to pay you direct.You may however need to watch the whereabouts of the Ts deposit - do you currently hold it or does the LA?

As LAs/LLs have to be registered in Scotland you may want to get in touch with the local Council to see whether any other LLs and/or Ts have raised concerns about this LA.

mchale

tbs624 wrote: »

I agree that the OP does not make matters clear on *who* is paying late but if the T is at fault for this month the LA would surely be only too happy to point that out to the OP.

If you are still owed money by the end of this month and you get nowhere with either the branch or the HO you could always try the MD of the Clear Group:

[text deleted by MSE Forum Team] Clear Group Scotland Ltd, 272 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JR

In the meantime, I agree with the others that I would tell the Ts that they are to pay you direct.You do however need to watch the whereabouts of the Ts deposit - do you currently hold it or does the LA?

As LAs/LLs have to be registered in Scotland you may want to get in touch with the local Council to see whether any other LLs and/or Ts have raised concerns about this LA.

Agreed, as you well know people post comments on threads without knowing all the facts, and its not right to name & shame without giving all the correct details in my opinion

DVardysShadow

mchale wrote: »

Agreed, as you well know people post comments on threads without knowing all the facts, and its not right to name & shame without giving all the correct details in my opinion

In terms of facts, I think OP has been entirely factual. The issue about who the word 'they' refers to is substantially no more than a weakness of expression. Even if the tenants paid late for January, this is very arguably a failure of the Letting Agent, whose job it is to collect the rent. The failure to return phone calls is also factual, and the silence speaks volumes.

nickpike

Thanks for the further comments. From the small amount of info I've extracted from them, they have told me that the tenants have paid so that's a definite fact. The possibly going bust part, is me venting my concern. I'm absolutely not saying they are, just that this is a concern of mine. I've written to the tenant today, to firstly make sure they know of the situation and to let them know that nothing will change for them apart from a contact number and where they will have to pay their money to. I've asked for a face to face meeting to make sure they are reassured that I am who I say I am, the LL, and make sure they everything is OK with the house, as I've been told work has been carried out but now not sure what to believe.
If I receive my rent, great, and they can chase me for the cancellation charge, (I'll pay before they add on extra charges) If they don't/can't pay, then that will cover the fee but will lose out on some of the money due.
But, at least I'll be clear of them and can move on from it.

Nick

nickpike

Just to give you all an update on this story. I finally received last months rent, and it definitely looks like I'm one of the very lucky ones!!!

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Fife/article/20805/police-open-investigation-into-sudden-closure-of-property-firm-clear-lets.html

Andrew_Brown_2

Hi, I actually rent a property through Clearlets. In Rosyth. I've only ever paid Clearlets and have stopped my payments since I've heard they've gone bust. my question is how do I get in touch with my actual Landlord? I have no contact number and no name to go by.

If anyone in this forum who knows a Landlord near the Hilton Hotel Rosyth or owns a house in the near vicinity please let me know.

Thanks.