Agent wants £300 to renew my FT contract!

Werdnal

xfive71 wrote: »

Thank you all. My husband will be meeting the agent on Thursday to say we would like to go on a rolling contract and see where we go from there.

I would dearly love to go to the landlord direct but the agent is managing the rental and we can only go through the agent. They unprotected our deposit and put it into another scheme - mainly because the new FT also include a slight increase in rent.

Agent is managing the let on behalf of the landlord, but your contract is with the landlord not the agent. If you want the landlord's direct contact details, write and request them, and agent has to provide them within 21 days.

G_M

And if you already know how to contact the LL, you have that right. He is your landlord!

Don't be put off by the agent saying "you have to go via us" - they are protecting their 'control', and therefore their income stream.

franklee

xfive71 wrote: »

Thank you all. My husband will be meeting the agent on Thursday to say we would like to go on a rolling contract and see where we go from there.

If the last FT expired July 2012 as you seem to write you've been on a periodic tenancy for months so why is the agent bothered about a new FT now? I'd just say you're happy as you've been since July 2012 on a periodic tenancy.

xfive71 wrote: »

The problem is they also told us to sign a S21 form when we signed the FT tenancy in July 2011. I know, very stupid of us

Your signature in the S21 doesn't change it's service, what matters is were you given the S21 to keep? If your signature is dated it may be helpful if it shows the S21 was served at the same time as the new tenancy agreement. If you were given both documents together how can the landlord/agent prove the S21 was served AFTER the tenancy agreement started?

xfive71 wrote: »

I would dearly love to go to the landlord direct but the agent is managing the rental and we can only go through the agent.

You should write (by that I mean on paper) to the agent asking for the address of the landlord, quoting this:

Section 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985:

1 Disclosure of landlord’s identity.

(1) If the tenant of premises occupied as a dwelling makes a written request for the landlord’s name and address to—

(a) any person who demands, or the last person who received, rent payable under the tenancy, or

(b) any other person for the time being acting as agent for the landlord, in relation to the tenancy,

that person shall supply the tenant with a written statement of the landlord’s name and address within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which he receives the request.

Address is defined by the 1985 Act as a person’s place of abode or place of business or, in the case of a company, it's registered office. The agent's address does not satisfy this it needs to be the landlord's. With the address you can write to the landlord and explain the agent's actions.

xfive71 wrote: »

I need to double check but I think we sign a new S21 with the new contract. Is it legal for them to ask us to do this?

As above the S21 may be invalid if it was served with the new tenancy agreement. To be valid the S21 should be served after the new tenancy as a new fixed term voids an existing S21. If this turns out to be important I'd suggest you get some advice on the detailed timing needed for the S21 to be valid or not.

franklee

G_M wrote: »

Provided any deposit paid by the tenant has been registered, AND the 'prescribed information' given to the tenant, before the S21 is served, then yes, it is valid.

Not quite the S21 has to be served after the tenancy has started. Also agreeing a new fixed term voids an existing S21. So in the OP's case a little more delving into the exact timing details is needed. I think the agent may have trouble proving things were done in the right order.

xfive71

Thank you all. It's so lovely to have your support. We have been good tenants all this time - no arrears, minimal handholding, fixing things ourselves if we could. I do understand the agents want to make money but we can't afford a £300 bill.

I let you guys know how we get on when DH speaks to the agents tomorrow

ruggedtoast

£300 to spend a few minutes printing out a new tenancy is extortion. I hope the day comes soon when this kind of thing is outlawed and these parasites are put of business.

In the meantime, you have the right not to pay it and they have the right to tell you to leave.

Naf

ruggedtoast wrote: »

£300 to spend a few minutes printing out a new tenancy is extortion. I hope the day comes soon when this kind of thing is outlawed and these parasites are put of business.

In the meantime, you have the right not to pay it and they have the right to tell you to leave.

They have the right, on behalf of the landlord... But whether its actually what the LL would want is a different story.
As I said before, you really need to talk to LL directly and ensure he knows that his LA are bullying tenants, and potentially evicting them, then charging him fees (for readvertising the property, then finding fee etc.; when all the expense could be avoided by permitting the rolling contract to continue.
Lying, cheating scum running scams to line their pockets.

ruggedtoast

The worst thing about being scammed, lied to and ripped off by these people is that 98% of the cretins are all so thick.

If you were being scammed by a smooth talking lothario with nifty patter and a slick suit it wouldn't seem to bad.

The girl who worked in the last letting agent I had the displeasure to have to deal with used to look at you when you came in the door of their office like she had literally never seen a human being before.

Then when you asked her anything it would take her several seconds of blankness to answer, you could almost hear the gears turning over.

When I went in once to ask for my copy of my tenancy after 3 months of moving in she stared at me for about a minute and then said "We don't give tenancies to tenants. You might lose them."

I then suggested she might photocopy it for me, watching her use the photocopier was like watching a chimp trying to discover fire.

Naf

My sister works in an estate agents/letting agency. And although they don't actually manage the properties for LLs, they do pull this stunt of hauling people back in every 6 months to sign a new agreement. In my sister's defence, the company have trained her to believe that it's necessary (due to some clause(s) in the TAs they produce. The only thing that stopped me completely flipping out at her, is that they do not charge for the subsequent renewals.

dt3887

ruggedtoast wrote: »

The worst thing about being scammed, lied to and ripped off by these people is that 98% of the cretins are all so thick.

If you were being scammed by a smooth talking lothario with nifty patter and a slick suit it wouldn't seem to bad.

The girl who worked in the last letting agent I had the displeasure to have to deal with used to look at you when you came in the door of their office like she had literally never seen a human being before.

Then when you asked her anything it would take her several seconds of blankness to answer, you could almost hear the gears turning over.

When I went in once to ask for my copy of my tenancy after 3 months of moving in she stared at me for about a minute and then said "We don't give tenancies to tenants. You might lose them."

I then suggested she might photocopy it for me, watching her use the photocopier was like watching a chimp trying to discover fire.

:rotfl:i have just spat out a bit of tea while reading this.
but, sounds the exact same as the person who was in charge of our property.... who for some reason doesnt work there any more...