Lettings Agent Making Unreasonable Demands - Plz Help!

corine39

Hi Guys

Bit wound up at the moment so could do with some expert advice.

Where to start?

Well we were in the process of selling our house, all had got quite far along with the legals etc then last week our buyer pulled out. A few weeks prior to this however, we had paid a £300 admin fee to secure ourselves a rented property to live in for the time being. Had a credit check done, all ok.

Whilst the sale was still on, we were given a provision completion date by the estate agent, so we in turn relayed this to our letting agent that we would look to move in provisionally on 9 November. This was relayed to them on 25 October by email. So when we heard the sale was off, and trying to be proactive, we immediately put our house up for rental, and encouragingly (fingers crossed) have had quite a bit of interest so far, so felt we still wanted to make the move to our rental property. Needless to say it has been quite a distressing time for us.

No tenancy agreement has been signed, the only thing we have signed is to say its ok to do credit checks.

In the meantime we have not heard anything from the letting agent since the 25 October, when we advised them of our provisional date, despite waiting to hear answers about some questions we have about the property. However I called them yesterday to explain and say that because of all of the above we are still able to make the move but would just have to extend our move in date by 2 weeks.

Initially they said that the landlord may not agree to this and not want us to take the property giving how we had messed them around(?). I told them if that was the case I would want the £300 back. They said its non refundable, despite the t&cs on their website saying otherwise.

They came back yesterday at around 3pm and said the landlord is very distressed by this so wants the rent and deposit (1 and half months rent) by Friday, and that they needed an answer by close of play that night on whether we could do this. I told them this was out of the question as other half would not be home from work in time to discuss, so they said they need an answer first thing tomorrow morning. ie this morning.

Anyhow I was on rightmove and their website last night and noticed that the property had changed from let agreed to available. It was still showing let agreed that very morning however

I emailed the letting agent first thing this morning to say I take it you no longer want to proceed seeing as the property is back on the market, and that you have not given us chance to come back to you regarding your request from last night. They have emailed back to say because we could not get hold of you last Tuesday (even though i made contact with them the following day) the landlord wanted the property putting back on rightmove (what just because they could not get hold of us for 1 day!!!) and they wanted the tenancy to start from Monday!

Unfortunately its got to the point were we feel are position is untenable, and that the professional relationship is damaged as we dont trust them, so dont really feel like we want the property any longer. But feel this is what they want, us to pull out so they keep the £300!

Stressing and hoping someone offer advice .

Thanks

Corine

BitterAndTwisted

You have messed them about unless you put back the move-in date and made it clear that you'd be happy to pay the rent from the original agreed date. Why would you think a landlord would be happy to lose two weeks of rent just because your circumstances have changed?

£300 for referencing etcetera is expensive but par for the course these days. Read the documentation you got from the agent very carefully before you demand your fees back. I'd be thinking about trying the tack of "you enforced an unreasonable deadline so the landlord is the party pulling out, so pay us the fees back, please" if you'll think it will wash.

G_M

You said you wanted the property.
You agreed a move-in date.
The landlord took the poperty off the market and held it for you.
You paid fees (holding fee to remove from market + credit vetting etc I imagine) on that basis.

Now you want the landlord to lose another 2 weeks rent when he could by now have found another (more reliable) tenant...?

Sorry - you have lost your fees.

Since you actually did not really change your plans to rent (all that changed was the decision to let your own property rather than sell) why did you not stick to your original agreed date?

Hopefully once you become landlords yourself (see here) you'll get reliable tenants who don't mess you about.

corine39

Please understand we NEVER agreed a move in date, we just gave them a provisional date, and have the fact it was provisional in writing. If we had we would have honored it.

We couldnt stick to the original date, as we have had to get the house ready for rental, but I stress again it was only provisional

DRP

corine39 wrote: »

Please understand we NEVER agreed a move in date, we just gave them a provisional date, and have the fact it was provisional in writing. If we had we would have honored it.

We couldnt stick to the original date, as we have had to get the house ready for rental, but I stress again it was only provisional

in which case, in your situation I would definitely be following the route suggested:

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

snip//
I'd be thinking about trying the tack of "you enforced an unreasonable deadline so the landlord is the party pulling out, so pay us the fees back, please" if you'll think it will wash.

corine39

Thanks DRP - will try as you suggest!

scobbieboy

Frustratingly I don’t believe the previous two contributors read your post fully!!

It does happen a lot on here unfortunately!!!

You have made it very clear that you had only provisionally agreed a moving in date with the agent and nothing had be confirmed.

I am a landlord and I suppose it goes with the territory that tenants do sometimes change their moving in date and I would suggest two weeks is not unreasonable.

I would question what the Agent has told the landlord and also pretty poor show if they have not kept you informed along the way.

Cannot comment on refund of admin but hopefully will get a response from some useful contributors who actually take the time to read your post!!

Fire_Fox

If a property is empty it is normal for tenants to move in and start paying rent shortly after all the credit checks are complete, not give dates that move further back. I am sorry your personal circumstances have changed, but you are expecting the landlord to go without rent for a further couple of weeks. If you are not in a position to physically move you can still sign the contract and start paying rent.

You need to be VERY careful you are not the one pulling out here, if you do that much of your £300 can be eaten up in credit checks and admin charges. If the landlord pulls out you *may* be able to ask for a full refund. Take a screenshot of the property back on the market.

scobbieboy

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If a property is empty it is normal for tenants to move in and start paying rent shortly after all the credit checks are complete, not give dates that move further back. I am sorry your personal circumstances have changed, but you are expecting the landlord to go without rent for a further couple of weeks. If you are not in a position to physically move you can still sign the contract and start paying rent.

I rest my case - Another one who has not read the post fully!!!

It is totally incorrect for the tenant just to start paying rent because the property is empty!!! It has do be agreed by both parties not dictated by the landlord.

Again please can I ask if people are going to comment they fully read the post!!
Corine39 has stated that she has NEVER agreed a date with the landlord and therefore it is totally irrelevant that her circumstances have changed!!

Kynthia

scobbieboy wrote: »

I rest my case - Another one who has not read the post fully!!!

It is totally incorrect for the tenant just to start paying rent because the property is empty!!! It has do be agreed by both parties not dictated by the landlord.

Again please can I ask if people are going to comment they fully read the post!!
Corine39 has stated that she has NEVER agreed a date with the landlord and therefore it is totally irrelevant that her circumstances have changed!!

These very experienced and knowledgeable posters have read the post properly, they just disagree with you. Just because the date was provisional doesn't mean the landlord will wait forever for the OP. The landlord is clearly unhappy with the new suggested move in date and is remarketing the property. Expecting the landlord to keep the property empty for weeks is costly and unreasonable.

What does the receipt for the £300 say? It is a holding fee or is it for credit checks? If it's the former you can try to argue that it's the landlord who is pulling out as you are still willing to rent the property.

missile

I don't understand why OP is rushing to let her property, just because one sale fell through?
I would suggest you think carefully.