Useless letting agent

somethingcorporate

Yep, ask them for a discount.

For the breach you would be entitled to damages but do it either with agreement (or via courts) but do not do it upfront and without consultation with the other party.

rev_henry

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Yep, ask them for a discount.

For the breach you would be entitled to damages but do it either with agreement (or via courts) but do not do it upfront and without consultation with the other party.

Yes, right, ok. Should I add that in the letter to the agents requesting landlords name and address?

somethingcorporate

Deal with the landlord directly for this, the LAs would unlikely allow a rent reduction without the LL's agreement.

I'd be fuming if my LA did this and demand that they pay this back out of their own pocket. Checking on my managing agreement they(the LA) do (did) not have the authority to make any changes to the rent.

Fire_Fox

rev_henry wrote: »

Yes, right, ok. Should I add that in the letter to the agents requesting landlords name and address?

Three days ago I advised you to get the landlord's name and address and deal with them because you are contracted to them. You've already accepted that these agents are next to useless/ probably can't be trusted. Why didn't you write the letter three days ago so that it arrived with the agency this morning? The faster you get the address the faster you get resolution to all the problems you want sorted by last month. At this point you don't even know for sure if the landlord is aware of the issues.

rev_henry

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Three days ago I advised you to get the landlord's name and address and deal with them because you are contracted to them. You've already accepted that these agents are next to useless/ probably can't be trusted. Why didn't you write the letter three days ago so that it arrived with the agency this morning? The faster you get the address the faster you get resolution to all the problems you want sorted by last month. At this point you don't even know for sure if the landlord is aware of the issues.

Because I was busy. Now then, they seem to me making noises in the right direction. Someone came today to look at the dishwasher situation and says it is possible, and the alarm now works. We have heard back from the code complaint with the University and they are basically asking why it is all taking so long.

Meanwhile, my housemate's bedroom has a serious damp problem which is apparently being fixed today, I did not realise how bad it was, the ceiling is dripping and mouldy water is running down the walls...That's in addition to the whole house being damp for some reason, the kitchen cupboards are wet to touch inside. I'm thinking if this isn't sorted today (someone is meant to be coming) I'll get onto Environmental Health?

Not being stupid either, using extractor fans and the dehumidifier...

rev_henry

Well, after sending a formal letter they gave us the landlord's address. I wrote to him outlining the problems, and the next day received a call from his solicitor. As I thought, she said he is unwell so she manages his estate, and was rather annoyed to hear about what's going on. It sounded like she was considering firing the agents.

We have had a router delivered and getting BT Infinity tomorrow, which is a nice surprise that its fibre optic.
TV licence has come also. So things are moving forward. Meanwhile, before either of these things I basically sent a letter before action, I'll look a bit silly now they've sorted this but still there's half a dozen other things. We shall see...

Fire_Fox

Great news, delighted your letters have had a positive effect.

rev_henry

A bed seems to have appeared as well which is also good. Need the dishwasher now - you should see the state of our kitchen. We are four young men, we do not *do* washing up, hence insisting on the thing!

Also, they seem to have forgotten/not bothered to block outgoing phone calls. Pretty sure we have free evening and weekends to landlines...
AND my awesome rotary dial 70s phone works on the line. I did think it might not support pulse dialling.

rev_henry

Well, we have a dishwasher now, but no cutlery tray. Cutlery tray was promised last week but of course never turned up. The house is still very damp and nothing has been done about it. Also a couple of weeks ago the internet was cut off because the agents didn't seem to have given a second thought to how they might pay the bill! Came back after about 2 days of hassling them, apparently the bills will come to us and we must forward them every month.

Meanwhile, the 4th housemate who was replaced at the last minute needs her deposit back. I have received a DPS request to do this, apparently the only way is for them to pay it back to us then pay back in again. I was thinking of telling the agents that I would not be able to deal with this at all until they'd sorted the house properly, but this would obviously be unfair on her. Would I be within my rights to refuse to pay the deposit back in until the house is sorted?

rev_henry

The letting agents have, for the third or fourth month, failed to pay the phone bill on time so our internet has been cut off yet again.

I have managed to get a surveyor out to look at the damp but only after refusing to allow any viewings until the house is sorted properly. We are sick of this. How should I go about suing them?