Letting agency - help!

cxward

Hi,

My fiance and I went to view a property to rent on 20th September and fell in love with it and, because we had missed out on other properties before, we paid our fees in cash right then and there to take it off the market, with a receipt being provided by the agency the following week.

When we were viewing the property the agent asked us when we would be looking to move in, and we explained that it would be the last day of October, as we wanted to wait until the application process had been completed before giving notice to our current landlord. This was because my partner and I had some bad credit from a few years ago, and we were concerned we might get rejected. As it turned out we did need to ask a relative to act as a guarantor which further delayed the process, however we gave notice on our current property so we would be able to move in on the 31st.

We were told by the agent about 2 weeks ago that the applications had been completed and we had been successful, and they were in the process of drafting our rental agreement which would then be sent out last week. I should point out now that throughout the entire process the agency have been appalling in responding to any queries I've had, and have never returned any of my calls. So when we hadn't received any contracts by last Friday lunchtime, I called the agency again to find out what had happened. They told me they were 'waiting on some information from the landlord and would get the contracts out later that day'. No contracts were sent.

I checked my emails at 6pm on Friday to find that the agent had just sent me an email stating that the landlord wasn't happy about us pushing back the moving date to the 31st, as she had been told we would be moving on the 20th (today!!), and would need this weekend to think it over before deciding on what to do. I have no idea why the agent didn't call me to tell me this as it was quite clearly important. As the offices closed just after the email had been sent I was unable to contact the agency until the following morning. When I called the agent told me that the landlord had been told we would be moving in on the 20th as that was 4 weeks from when we first viewed the property! I told them that this was never agreed by myself as I wouldn't put myself in a position where I would have to be paying rent for 2 properties for 11 days, and that I would like to contact the landlord directly as I needed them to know that this issue hadn't been caused by me or my partner, and hopefully she would be ok with the "new" date of the 31st. They told me that they couldn't give me the landlord's number due to Data Protection and that they would give her the weekend to make her mind up and let us know today.

I have called the agency twice today already and so far no answers. Obviously me and my partner are incredibly anxious about this now as we have to move out of our current property (that has already been relet) in less than two weeks and we could be in a position where we don't have anywhere to move to.

We were also told by the agency at the time of the viewing that any fees would be refunded if the landlord pulled out, but when I mentioned this on the phone earlier they were reluctant to confirm whether this was the case. Obviously we would need this money to use towards funding a different property if it comes down to it, but I hope this isn't going to be the case.

The agency in question also manage the property so I'm not exactly filled with confidence if we do move in that any issues we may have with the property in the future will be sorted out quickly or at all.

We don't know what to do for the best now as if we pull out of going for this property we lose all fees paid (currently around £500) which we really can't afford to do and would only leave us 11 days to find a new place!

Any advice would be greatly appreciate, and apologies for the long post - I have edited it a few times before posting as it was a lot longer!!!

stator

Sounds like a typical agency really. Keep on top of them. Make sure they have told the landlord it wasn't your fault but theirs.
I can't see how the landlord is going to find a new tenant and do the references and checks before your move in date!

Okydoky25

I would think there is more to this tbh. Why would the LL be questioning at this late stage the date. If they pull out now it is going to take them even further behind to find someone else and do all credit checks etc on new tenants.

chris_aaaaa

Quick check at land registry (£3) will give you landlord details, bypass the agent.


You will either get a LL who now realises the agent is rubbish - and get it sorted.


Or you will get a LL who is unreasonable and you will know you do not want to live there.


Either way you should get a definitive answer.

ruggedtoast

There badly needs to be reform of this industry.

Where else would you be required to pay hundreds of pounds to reserve something with no idea what you are reserving and no way to get it back of the provider decided they didn't have what they promised you?

I would actually cc your MP into this. These people are scum and this whole rotten enterprise needs calling on.

jjlandlord

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Where else would you be required to pay hundreds of pounds to reserve something with no idea what you are reserving and no way to get it back of the provider decided they didn't have what they promised you?

Nowhere, including the lettings industry since they can't do what you describe (they obviously sometimes try, though).