Landlord seeking advice over poor service from letting agent

CraigWW

Hi all

I'm looking for some advice here as I'm having no end of problems with my letting agent, Your Move. I have found their standard of service and communication to be appalling whilst being charged extortionate fees. They have carried out repairs without first obtaining quotes, not returned calls, not paid money into my account on the date that they assured me they would and generally been downright rude.
If my tenant only stays for six months I have calculated that I'll have paid them 60% of the rental income in fees, with their monthly management fee being 18.3%.
I had to chase them to obtain an invoice for a repair that was carried out on a 9 year old washing machine and this showed a part which cost £55. In correspondence with one of their managers he revealed the part actually cost £53.88 but they allowed their contractors to round this up as he had to source the part, this was on top of a £40 job charge which I assumed would include sourcing parts. I realise the amounts are trivial but its the fact they allow this rounding up that concerns me. I was also forwarded an email from the contractor which had been sent to Your Move in which he admitted that the machine was old and anything could go wrong at that age. Had I been contacted prior to the original repair I'd just have bought a newer second hand machine in the first place and saved myself some money.
On top of that I had to chase Your Move in order to have them chase the tenant for late paid rent despite me paying for a fully managed service. I was told they give the tenants 10 days after the rent due date before they even begin chasing it, which was never once explained to me prior to this incident.
I'm now past the point where there is less than two months left on the tenancy so I cannot serve notice, although with the exception of the late paid rent which was a simple oversight on the tenants part and rectified within an hour of it being brought to their attention, they have been good tenants and I do not want to evict them for no reason other than a poor standard of service from the letting agent.
My contract states that if I cancel the agreement with the tenants in place or move to another agent with the tenant still in place I'll owe Your Move one month's rent plus VAT. However there is a clause that states if either party breaches contract and a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached and the agent is at fault I can cancel my contract with Your Move without any penalty.
My question therefore is whether or not the above issues, which is just scraping the surface of a downright joke of a service, will constitute a breach of contract on Your Move's part? As far as I'm concerned I'm paying them for a service which I am not receiving and do not think they are complying with their duties as agents, I have sent a letter to their customer relations department and have been assured of a response sometime next week but any additional advice is very much appreciated. I realise I should never have signed a contract with such extortionate fees but I found myself with a vacant property at very short notice and very little time to get it all sorted out and stupidly assumed a company the size of Your Move would be professional and fee competitively.

G_M

If disputed, which is likely, proving breach of contract will be slow, stressful, expensive, and uncertain.

The first obvious Q is: how clear are your instructions to the agent? Have they got written instructions to contact you before spending outon repairs, or have you delegated this responsibility to them as part of the 'service' you are paying them for.

If you are paying for full management, including managing repairs, you cannot complain if they spend (your) money on repairs!

Is there any chance you could self-manage? If so, get rid of them (see below) but by not appointing another agent you circumvent the clause.

(I'm searching for an earlier post on sacking agents........)

edit: Ah! Read:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/42552202#Comment_42552202

ognum

Oh my goodness, I would read your agreement with this bunch carefully and leave as soon as you can and find another letting agent.

I have left one agent who I felt did not deal well with an issue but nothing
I've you describe. as for paying that percentage to the letting agent well that is rediculous.

One of my current agents charges nothing to find tenants if they manage the property and I pay 8% in fees. All rents are payable on the first of the month and the money is transferred to my account the same day as they receive it. I have an arrangement whereby nothingis done without my say so.

My other agent charges 8 % and the rent is transferred within two days they also have to ask and I agree repairs.

Youare being ripped off, search for a new agent, use a non national independent local agent.

CraigWW

Hi G_M

Thanks for your reply, I was advised verbally that anything over £50 should be queried with myself. With regards to the washing machine I was asked if I would authorise a minor repair which I assumed would be under this £50, they never advised me that the repair had been carried out or the price of it until I chased them due to not receiving monthly statements which they are contracted to provide me with. When discussing the issue with the staff member at my local branch they advised that their letting department should have obtained a quote and that she agreed the she would not class it as a minor repair, again this was all verbal though. I've had a read through the post your directed me to and that certainly looks like it might be a viable option if I don't get anywhere with their customer relations department. Thanks again.

CraigWW

Hi Ognum, thanks for your reply. I've been going through the contract and it looks like my only way out without paying a penalty is if Your Move are in breach of contract. I'm a landlord out of necessity, not choice and have a medical condition which is exacerbated by stress so thought that a fully managed service would be the most hassle free way to deal with it, instead its been more stressful than dealing with it myself. After initially complaining about the repair I got an email a few days later to say the machine had malfunctioned again and when I wouldn't authorise a repair I got replies stating that quotes would be obtained this time with quotes being all in capital letters. I consider this to be downright rude and have told their head office that I won't accept the agent trying to highlight it as a quote to me as an excuse. Starting to feel like I'd be as well handing the title deeds over to Your Move as they're making a lot more money off the place than me.

dimbo61

Put the property on the market and sell it!!!
You are not cut out to be a Landlord

"I'd just have bought a newer second hand machine"

Second hand washing machine !!!

What would happen if you have void periods or need to pay for major repairs

CraigWW

Hi Dimbo, the reason I am renting the property out is because it has been on the market for three years for sale, the same as many other properties in the area. I have no objections to paying for repairs but £100 on a 9 year old washing machine seems a bit excessive to me when a nearly new one can be obtained for far less than this. My objection is paying extortionate fees for a subpar service. I'm happy to pay for a good service.

G_M

CraigWW wrote: »

Hi G_M

Thanks for your reply, I was advised verbally that anything over £50 should be queried with myself. With regards to the washing machine I was asked if I would authorise a minor repair which I assumed would be under this £50,

Aaagh!

" I was advised....".
What! YOU are the boss. They work for YOU. YOU decide, and you TELL them what to do (eg about managing repairs.) Advised? :rotfl:

"was advised verbally that...."
Aagh! You want them tofollow your instructions? Put it in WRITING!

"I assumed would be under this £50."
Never assume anything!

Take control. get a grip. They work for you so give them clear written instructions about what you want them to do, how, and when. How much (if anything) they can spend of your money without further authority, and then when they ask for authority, make sure you have the full facts, and several quotes, before you agree.

I'm afraid half the problem is yours for not actually acting as... a landlord who owns.... a property.

As said above - sack them.

The key here is to make sure that when you do so they have none (or very little) of your money. That way, if they claim you owe them, THEY have to persuade YOU to pay them.

If they have just received a months rent from the tenants, they'll simply keep it. Then YOU have to persuade THEM to give it back!

ou've heard the expression "possession is 9/10ths of the law". It originates from scenarios exactly like this....

So see my link above. Sort everything with the tenants first. Wait till the tenants have started paying rent direct to you.

THEN sack the agent

CraigWW

Hi GM

Thanks for your reply, I should clarify that I'm in Scotland and a verbal contract should be binding, proving it will be the hard part. I have emails proving I only authorised a minor repair but they're trying to say that anything under £200 is minor in their book. I should never have appointed them in the first place and they have been advised in writing of my full complaint and that no future non-emergency repairs should be carried out without my authority. I intend to take your advice and sack them once I receive this month's rent, which should be next week.

G_M

Ah! Scotland! A legal mystery to me! But verbal contracts are binding down here too - just much harder to pin down who said what and who agreed.....

As for the getting rent off the tenants, I don't know if Scotland has specific rules (artful might be along soon) but the key must be to combine

* communication - build a relationship and explain what/why you are doing
* formality - again, written confirmation and instructions