Estate agent from hell help!!!

usman122

Hi,

My estate agent is asking me to pay them £500 withdrawal fee. Under the condition that I have rejected full offers made from tenants.

Having said that they have had the property for 13 weeks and have only managed two offers one which I refused was because there was to many sharers, they were not professionals, one had a ccj and their wasn't enough landlord references. The other was a self employed builder who has no company, can't provide recent invoices and basically works with cash in hand, his accountant reference has a non existent company on its letter head(not in company house) and she is not a registered accountant.

I don't believe I should pay them anything.

Can you advise me what's the best course of action? How much could I end up paying extra if I go to court and I lose?

Thanks.

eddddy

Hi usman,

Presumably you signed a contract with the agent. If the contract says you have to pay a withdrawal fee, you have to pay it. If not, you don't have to pay it.

Or are you saying that the contract does say that there is a withdrawal fee, but you don't think the agent deserves it because he did a bad job? I think you would find it hard to win a court case on this basis. To win a court case, you would probably have to show that the agent was in breach of contract.

usman122

Hi Edddy,
Yes unfortunately I signed the contact which states if we find a perspective tenant and you decline you will need to pay £500 .

I just feel that they haven't provided me with a valid tenant the tenants provided were not the type I was looking for. The 2nd tenants reference is not even valid. To me it's day light robbery.

What actions can I take?

brit1234

usman122 wrote: »

What actions can I take?

Pay the money and read the small print next time. Sorry can't say more.

david29dpo

Whats the definition of a perspective tenant? You need to find this out before you take the matter further.

maninthestreet

I think the OP means 'prospective tenant'.

andy.m_2

unless your required tenant standard is stipulated in the contract then intheir eyes you have turned down 2 gilt edged opportunities to occupy.
In which case suck it up and front up the money.

If however you have it included in the contract that your minimum requirement of tenant and they have not met it then consider taking on the fight.

Carl31

usman122 wrote: »

To me it's day light robbery.

welcome to the world of agency

take 2 parties, match them together, and ask for lots of money, thats what agency is

usman122

maninthestreet wrote: »

I think the OP means 'prospective tenant'.

The definition is not stated in the contract. However, I've told them on many occasions that I wanted perfessionals, who were either family or couples. There idea for professionals include taxi drivers, nannys which I think is crazy!

As I'm a new landlord first time I've let a property I feel as if they have taken advantage of my lack off knowledge in this area.

G_M

Definition of 'prospective tenant'?

As a lanlord, naturally I would ensure I had the final say in who I let to, and what tenant is/is not acceptable -and I'd make sure this right of mine was reflected in the contract with the agent.

It's relatively easy to find a tenant for any property - provided you are not choosy: don't bother with references or credit checks; accept families, singles, sharers, benefits claimants, overseas applicants etc ec

So the agent can just offer you an overseas applicant (who can skip back abroad owing you £000s) who has no income and references, has CCJs in this country, and they can claim they've found you a 'prospective tenant'.....??

You've learnt 2 lesons:

1) retain control of your choce of tenant and
2) don't use this letting agency again

Meanwhile, check the contract carefully to see is there are any condiions anywhere about what tenants are acceptable or not.

You could try ignoring the bill. Will they actually take you to court? They might/might not. Would they win? They might/might not.

edit: As I say in my advice to new landlords here:

Be very cautious appointing a letting agent. The right agent is as important as the right tenant.

ILW

usman122 wrote: »

The definition is not stated in the contract. However, I've told them on many occasions that I wanted perfessionals, who were either family or couples. There idea for professionals include taxi drivers, nannys which I think is crazy!

As I'm a new landlord first time I've let a property I feel as if they have taken advantage of my lack off knowledge in this area.

Sounds like they have fulfilled their part of the contract. There is no legal definition of "professional" apart from doing something for money, so even if it was in the contract you would be on sticky ground.