Reference Fees

moombamike

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well!

I have a question about renting.

We made an offer for a flat on the condition that it would be unfurnished, paid a holding deposit and £200 for referencing fees.

The landlord has then stated that he is unwilling to take out the furniture, and thus our offer is not acceptable and falls through.

The estate agent have now said they will refund our holding deposit but not the reference fees. That's £200 we could really do without losing, I thought they would only ask for references once the initial offer was accepted so therefore should be refunded? Also, on the website the ad said "furniture negotiable" which it clearly wasn't.

Does anyone know if we have any right to a refund for our reference fees?

Thanks
Mike

Guest101

Depends on your contract. I'd say based on the refusal being on the furniture, yes.

The agent should not have carried out any checks until this offer was acceptable, clearly it wasnt

lonestar1

I wouldnt rely on the furniture negotiable bit as he could just say 'ok for 15k I'll remove it'

[Deleted User]

But he didn't, he just said no.

LA should have checked before taking reference fees.

Although you may have to take it to a small claims court to get your money back and may well need proof that the offer you made was dependent on furniture removal. Otherwise it'll be your word against the LA's with no certainty of winning. But the threat of court action could make the LA pay up.., but no certainty of this either.

rpc

I think you should get the full sum back.

LA should not have proceeded to referencing unless terms of the tenancy were agreed.

You could probably also argue that a contract was created - you made an offer, taking the money and doing the referencing is evidence of acceptance. After all, why would you reference a tenant when there was no intention of entering into a tenancy?

Letter before action to the LA and LL. Then moneyclaim if they don't pay up.

chanz4

if it was so soon they cant of done the checks, ask for the refund or send a letter before action then take via the small claims

AleMrsT

Check what you signed, asked for copies if needs be. Our fees are none refundable, and the application form states that clearly, and the applicant is asked to read and sign the terms before paying the fees. If there is nothing on any of the paperwork that you have SIGNED stating the fees are none refundable, send a complaint letter to the agency telling them you will refer back to the property ombudsman on grounds of unfair charges.

EDIt - For comparison, our application terms are as follows; 'all fees are non-refundable once the application has been processed, except where the Landlord withdraws the property from the market for reasons unrelated to your application. For example, if your references fail due to anything that has been found to be unsatisfactory, or you decide you no longer wish to proceed with the tenancy, your fees are non-refundable. If the landlord decides he no longer wishes to proceed with the letting, he will be asked to refund your full application fees.'

stator

Morally you have a good case.

moombamike

Thanks for all the help. I argued this with the LA and luckily, because they hadn't charged the fees to the referencing company yet, and after some stubborn argument, they refunded the whole amount.

We had stated on our offer letter that one of the conditions was specifically that the property be "Unfurnished", so hopefully that would have held up in a small claims court too.

Guest101

AleMrsT wrote: »

Check what you signed, asked for copies if needs be. Our fees are none refundable, and the application form states that clearly, and the applicant is asked to read and sign the terms before paying the fees. If there is nothing on any of the paperwork that you have SIGNED stating the fees are none refundable, send a complaint letter to the agency telling them you will refer back to the property ombudsman on grounds of unfair charges.

EDIt - For comparison, our application terms are as follows; 'all fees are non-refundable once the application has been processed, except where the Landlord withdraws the property from the market for reasons unrelated to your application. For example, if your references fail due to anything that has been found to be unsatisfactory, or you decide you no longer wish to proceed with the tenancy, your fees are non-refundable. If the landlord decides he no longer wishes to proceed with the letting, he will be asked to refund your full application fees.'

Wow hope whoever gets conned by you sues you.

Ridiculous clauses.

Any reasonae agent would take the application to the LL for approval. The checks are then made to make sure the information is accurate. If it is, and the LL then decides no, the AGENT returns the money and invoices the LL. If the information is inaccurate, only then should an agent not refund.

But there's a lot of crooked agents...

topdaddy_2

Two hundred quid for refrencing??!