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Letting agent charging for referencing
rev_henry
Posts: 4,965 Forumite
My letting agent is attempting to charge each of us (4 of us, student house) £30 for a reference for our next properties. They have been charlatans from day 1 tbh, when the agent we originally signed up to, who was extremely well thought of, suddenly sold up.
There is no mention of such a fee in the contract, and I am sure the previous agent would not have charged for this. Thus my question is can they charge this without it being in the contract or explained to us?
Seems like a final kick in the teeth really, after all they've put us through, though I have made some progress on getting some compensation for breach of contract out of them.
There is no mention of such a fee in the contract, and I am sure the previous agent would not have charged for this. Thus my question is can they charge this without it being in the contract or explained to us?
Seems like a final kick in the teeth really, after all they've put us through, though I have made some progress on getting some compensation for breach of contract out of them.
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Comments
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If you are applying for a new tenancyin a new property, they can charge fees for admin, for credit checks, for references etc.
Sadly there is no control ofthese fees.
They would not be shown in the tenancy agreement(which is only signed later).
edit: sorry - just realised it's a reference for the next landlord. But again, yes, they can charge for their time.
Why not ask your current LL if he'll provide refs?0 -
I am talking about a referencing fee being charged by my current agent for providing a reference to a new agent for a new property.0
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Anyone..???0
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Anyone..???
well, your next tenancy has nothing to do with them so there is no real reason why it should state anything about references in the contract.
Your current LA is under no compulsion to give you any reference at all, so as a business you can see why they would charge for their time...
I would ask your current LL for a reference - they may be more likely to do it for free...0 -
£30 is steep IMHO, but a business does incur costs to check your payment history, stamps and paper, staff time etc0
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Thirty quid doesn't seems that expensive to me. Letting agents won't pick up the ruddy phone for free if they think they can get someone else to pay for it.
How badly do you need this new property and would £30 be worth cutting off your noses to spite your faces? In the great scheme of things this proposed £30 is trivial. Most landlords and all agents charge for giving a reference. Pay it and move on.0
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