New Landlord - advice please

redlady_1

I have recently married and am letting my 2 bed cottage. There are several restrictions I have in place of which the letting agents are aware, and were placed upon my application form, however I agreed to allow pets subject to approval to try to obtain a long term tenant.

I have tried to ensure that everything is done correctly (putting my faith in the agents to guide me through together with my limited knowledge) and the tenants are due to move in on Friday having passed all referencing, including the previous landlord. I agreed to one dog and one cat.

However, today the contracts turned up. The addendums have stated two dogs and two cats. This is a small cottage and the garden is detached from the house. To say I have lost the plot is something of an understatement.

There have been various issues that have come to light within the last two weeks regarding the letting agents and this has just topped it off. I have now fired off an email to the letting agent stating I will be in on Monday to sort this out and under no circumstances is anything to be signed on my behalf, nor the tenants be given the keys.

Am I within my rights to ask to see the previous landlords reference? The cottage just isnt big enough for four animals and the neighbour is already kicking off at the prospect of one dog, let alone two. I have acess across their garden to get to my own.

I am just slightly concerned at a) leaving the tenants homeless b) whether I am overreacting, given I would allow one of each

Any advice as to how to place this with the agents would be appreciated please.

Old_Git

lets say they told you they have ONE dong and ONE cat and brought two off each what would /could you do .
How big are the dogs .
You can ask to see the landlord reference ,however if the LL wanted rid of them he could give a glowing reference.

redlady_1

Um, I am beginning to see rapidly for every avenue to try to ensure you have covered, there is another which pops up!

Surely if they signed for one of each but brought two then they have broken their terms of the tenancy agreement?

Also, would you recommend becoming a member of a landlord association and if so which one?

At this point I have no knowledge of what kind of dogs. I wasnt expecting plural! This is one of the reasons I am going to see the letting agents who I am rapidly losing faith in for one reason or another and the lease hasnt even gone through.

jamie11

You need to be careful here, you have obviously agreed to a tenancy starting Friday, even if you have not signed it yet. Those would be tenants have probably given notice and have to move now. If it was me and you started prevaricating at this stage I would be looking for compensation. Tenants do push the boundaries, that's why most landlords do not allow pets in the first place.

Think about it! One cat can magically divide into 8-9 cats overnight. Whatcha gonna say then?

whalster

Your right it does depend on the size and type of house we let some of ours to people with dogs but make sure they are generaly small ones other houses we have are not suitable at all and never in our flats .
However yes join a association ,the first mistake was using an agent lots more money and lots more hassle for you even than being thrown in at the deep end and learning quickly, a lot of people on here say oh use an agent for the first few times till you get to know the ropes a little bit, but if you don't do it you will never learn and infact when you do you never stop learning

dodger1

One Great Dane is about 10 times the size of a Chihuahua, so the type of dog makes a difference.

redlady_1

I have sent an email to the letting agents saying that nothing is to be signed nor are the tenants allowed in until issues have been resolved. People have definitely been lied to (me and I suspect them) and as such the paperwork will be my only saving grace.

One question though please. In the contract it states if I sell to the tenants then the agent can charge 1.5%. I was under the impression that this clause is total dross. Please can anyone confirm or deny?

Werdnal

You have a right to see all the checks, references and any other documentation the agent has received from your tenants. However, as previously stated, a LL can give even the worst tenant a glowing reference just to get rid.

You seem very naive and trusting of your agents. I hope you appreciate that the agents are merely that - an agent between you and your tenant - and all legal responsibility for the property, its safety, repairs and maintenance etc stop with you. You would also be responsible for formal legal eviction through the courts if you had to get rid of these tenants - agents cannot represent you as they have no legal status. Your tenants will also sue you in return if they are put to any financial loss or injury through any lack of your obligations as a LL, regardless of whether the agent's !!!!-up caused it - of course, you in turn could countersue the agent if it was their fault.

Have you seen the dogs? My niece rents and always comes across problems if she has to move. She has 3 dogs but they are all tiny Yorkies - there is a major difference between these and someone with 3 Rotweillers! When she has approached a LL direct in the past, they have agreed to take her dogs as they are so small.

If you have not given the go ahead and accepted the tenancy, you as LL have a right to refuse the tenants, but you should have done this and checked everything through before you got to this late stage.

By the way, the neighbour going "ape" about the pets is not your concern, that is between your tenants and him to sort out. First rule of landlording is not to get involved in disputes of this sort. As long as there are no covenants or lease clauses forbidding pets, then you are within your rights to decide if you let to dog/cat owning tenants and little the neighbour can actually do about it.

I would suggest you need to do a lot more research into becoming a landlord and do not leave everything to your agents - they do not need any qualifications to set themselves up and you only have to read a few horror stories here about how badly agents can get things wrong - leaving LL with a legal, financial and stressful minefield to dig themselves out of. Read this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

and all the links it contains, so you understand your responsibilities and can tell if your agent is doing things correctly, or storing up a tale of woe for you in the future!

redlady_1

Yes, I have been very trusting and it is not a mistake I will make again!

I have been asking to see the addendums and contract for weeks but they wouldn't send them out. Now I guess I know why! Nothing has been signed bar an application form for them to become my agents.

I have all the relevant paperwork in place regarding Part P certification, HETAS, etc.

I am also going to see a solicitor to get the tenancy agreement checked over as there are several areas I am unhappy with. I also want various things specified and unless these are included, either in the agreement or the addendum, then this has come to a grinding halt.

Let's just say I have had a huge wake up call and wrongly thought that dealing with an agent would be a lot less stressful!

Can you recommend a website where I can educate myself further please? I have found Landlord zone and have spent most of the day reading it. I like to have everything covered and want to do the right and legal thing.

jamie11

redlady_1 wrote: »

One question though please. In the contract it states if I sell to the tenants then the agent can charge 1.5%. I was under the impression that this clause is total dross. Please can anyone confirm or deny?

Yes, it's dross as you say, you have employed them as letting agents, there is a thread on LLZ exploring this subject some time ago, you might ask there or search for it.

sandsni

redlady_1 wrote: »

Let's just say I have had a huge wake up call and wrongly thought that dealing with an agent would be a lot less stressful!

I know exactly how you feel. We found ourselves in this position, but in our case the tenants had already signed up and moved in before we discovered that the two labrador-types we had agreed to would actually morph into two rottweillers plus 4 other "temporary" canine residents :eek:.

Needless to say it was a pretty steep learning curve for me once I realised I couldn't trust the LA to know what they were doing!
Don't let your LA or the prospective Ts railroad you into signing anything you're not happy with. Even if it costs you to get out of the contract it could be preferable to cleaning up the mess after the Ts have moved out (if you're lucky enough to get rid of them once they move in).