check out fee / tds fee

suddenthump

Hello, all -

I wonder if you can help me out.

I am due to move into a new property in a couple of days.

I have just received an email from the letting agent saying that I am expected to pay a check out fee and a TDS fee.

Is this reasonable? Or legal?

I have never heard of an incoming tenant having to pay a check
*out* fee before. Perhaps the most charitable way of interpreting this is that it is a typo and they mean a check in - but the outgoing occupant is in fact the landlord, who is moving away on business. Should I have to pay a check-in where the previous occupant is the landlord?

The agency also demands a TDS "fee." I have never had to pay something like this before. Is this reasonable, or legal?

All thoughts much appreciated!

Many thanks!

Mozzanov

Both seem ridiculous to me. Either the LL is broke or the LA is being a bloodsucker. Or both. Or I'm just very, very cynical (for sure lol).

Check your contract (are these fees mentioned in there?), though, and also any information they provided you before you said "yes" (did they lay out the fees?). If they are disclosing this after the fact, tough luck. You don't have to pay them a penny. However, if it's in the contract, then that's a different matter.

As for the TDS fee, I'd tell them absolutely no. They should have factored this into costs already. It's what the LL pays per property to protect your deposit. Although, I guess if it's in the contract and they were up front about it, then you would have to pay.

However, I have a feeling that it wasn't in the contract and it's all an afterthought.

To be honest, even if it was (in the contract), I would argue unfair terms and they should have given you a fee breakdown (both in written form and verbally) BEFORE taking any money. Tell them you will be contacting the OFT/trading standards and the Property Ombudsman (if the agent is a member, otherwise other association they are a member of, if any). If it's not in the contract, refer them to the recent ASA decision and point out that all these fees should have been made clear from the very beginning.

[Deleted User]

Are you sure you're not misreading and the agent is just clarifying what fees are expected from you at the end of the tenancy? My tenancy is pretty standard and has a checkout fee, the agent made this clear before the tenancy commenced and it was deducted from the deposit at the start but will be used to cover the costs at the end.

Some of the deposit protection companies (mydeposits.co.uk) have deposit protection fees, I can't find any mention in their terms and conditions with regards to if it's okay for a landlord/agent to pass on the fee to the tenant, personally I've never had that fee and I've not seen it mentioned here before. I would guess it's "legal" as there is nothing that seems to forbid it in the deposit protection terms, although they may vary depending on the company.

How much are they asking for? The fees for mydeposits seem to be between £10 and £25 depending on if they're a member of a landlord association or have a bulk discount, are they charging much more than that?

suddenthump

Thank you for your replies - very helpful and interesting.

The LA isn't just clarifying what's expected at the end of the tenancy - they're asking for the money upfront. While my partner and I were at the LA a few weeks ago, we certainly signed something re: the agent's terms and conditions, so there might have been something in there about the check-out, but if there was, I didn't notice it. I'll ask to see the document again. Certainly, our attention was not drawn by the agent to anything in the document about fees.

On a related subject, the agency charged us an eye-watering 300 quid for the referencing check. The check was carried out by a referencing check company. Is there any way to find out how much this company charged the agency, and therefore how much of that 300 was pocketed by the agent? You see, regardless of whether we have to fork out for the further fees, this agency seems like an absolute nest of bad practice, and I very much want to contact trading standards about them. I'd like to have as much info as possible when I do.

Thanks again for your continued help!

suddenthump

The deposit scheme fee they're asking for is 36 quid, btw.

BitterAndTwisted

It's common practice for the landlord to pay a fee for the check-out inspection and inventory and the out-going tenant to pay for the check-out.

The TDS fee they are expecting you to pay is the insurance premium for registering the deposit with that scheme. If you don't want to pay it, ask them to register it with DPS who don't charge a fee but cover their costs by physically holding the tenant's money on their behalf. If the landlord or their agent choose not to use DPS I doubt there's anything you can do to force them other than being prepared to walk away.