Landlord selling the flat - Viewings

Voyager2002

misspickle wrote: »

Always accommodate the landlords. Then come up with a bostin reason to leave
References in this day and age are crucial. Stuff the law! In my book its about doing whatever you have to do to survive.
Once you start burning bridges in this game your stuffed if your a long term renter.
And the law wont be there to wipe your backside when your out on your ear.
It depends on the market but if you've got several people going for a good property then
I'm pretty sure the LL won't be wasting time on someone who is a risk in any way shape or form.
Good tenants attract good landlords. And vice versa.
NEVER rock the boat. Unless you have shed loads of money

Except that (most) letting agents follow the most obvious kind of money, and are sloppy and unprofessional whenever they can get away with it.

A shed-load of money may not make much difference. Not that long ago I needed to rent a place in a property 'hot spot'. Since I own a rented house elsewhere I was probably very low-risk to a potential landlord, while my rental income made up an important part of the picture of my financial situation. I was repeatedly refused by letting agents, who simply said that my salary was insufficient for the rents being asked and were unable to consider rental and other sources of income.

plumfin

Op, I am sorry to hear of your problems, reading the thread. I don't rent my house out and am not a landlord, but if I were, if you applied with a bad reference but also showed me this thread, warts and all, I could make a balanced judgement on the whole thing. There are generally 2 sides to an argument and evidence is key. I hope it gets sorted out for you soon.

kinger101

misspickle wrote: »

Always accommodate the landlords. Then come up with a bostin reason to leave
References in this day and age are crucial. Stuff the law! In my book its about doing whatever you have to do to survive.
Once you start burning bridges in this game your stuffed if your a long term renter.
And the law wont be there to wipe your backside when your out on your ear.
It depends on the market but if you've got several people going for a good property then
I'm pretty sure the LL won't be wasting time on someone who is a risk in any way shape or form.
Good tenants attract good landlords. And vice versa.
NEVER rock the boat. Unless you have shed loads of money

The only person rocking the the boat here is the agent. We have a tenant prepared to allow viewings although they have no obligation to do so. So the agent decides to !!!! them off by complaining about the tidiness of the place, "blacklisting" them and generally being confrontational.

This is not in the best interests of either the LL or tenant. As other people have pointed out, if tenants cannot leave, then it's difficult to see how the place can be sold. As the EA and LA are the same, even selling to other potential LL is going to be difficult, as they probably ought to disclose the current tenant is "blacklisted".

If it were my property, I'd be alarmed by the lack of professionalism shown by the agent. There's no way I'd give a bad reference out of spite. For one, I don't want to be in the middle of a libel case. And two, I don't want to have to evict the tenant through the courts, which might become necessary if they are unable to find another private tenant.

kiss_me_now9

Voyager2002 wrote: »

So you can get a good reference from your previous landlords, so no need to worry at all about what this shower say about you.

Incidentally, if a landlord wishes to give a tenant notice then the notice period is TWO months in England and Wales.

Well they need to crack on then as the two month mark is coming up in the next week or so... What happens if they don't serve me my notice before then?

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Except that (most) letting agents follow the most obvious kind of money, and are sloppy and unprofessional whenever they can get away with it.

A shed-load of money may not make much difference. Not that long ago I needed to rent a place in a property 'hot spot'. Since I own a rented house elsewhere I was probably very low-risk to a potential landlord, while my rental income made up an important part of the picture of my financial situation. I was repeatedly refused by letting agents, who simply said that my salary was insufficient for the rents being asked and were unable to consider rental and other sources of income.

Yes, this is my problem. With my ex on the contract it worked out fine - as we had a joint income of over £30k a year. Without him I'm on under £20k a year which is apparently not enough to rent anything in my area. Prices start at £525 pcm for a tiny studio flat in a dodgy area here. Even though I manage my money fairly well and have support from my parents trying to get a place on my own is impossible. I've actually started looking for jobs out of the area because I just can't afford to live here now. Plus I'm on a fixed term contract with work until June so no-one will accept me due to the 'risk' of not being extended.

kinger101 wrote: »

The only person rocking the the boat here is the agent. We have a tenant prepared to allow viewings although they have no obligation to do so. So the agent decides to !!!! them off by complaining about the tidiness of the place, "blacklisting" them and generally being confrontational.

This is not in the best interests of either the LL or tenant. As other people have pointed out, if tenants cannot leave, then it's difficult to see how the place can be sold. As the EA and LA are the same, even selling to other potential LL is going to be difficult, as they probably ought to disclose the current tenant is "blacklisted".

If it were my property, I'd be alarmed by the lack of professionalism shown by the agent. There's no way I'd give a bad reference out of spite. For one, I don't want to be in the middle of a libel case. And two, I don't want to have to evict the tenant through the courts, which might become necessary if they are unable to find another private tenant.

Rest assured I will never ever go with this estate agents again. They're a small independent letting/sales agent and they have a tiny team, which seems to be made up of sour middle aged women and rude, obnoxious 20 somethings.

Pixie5740

kiss_me_now9 wrote: »

Well they need to crack on then as the two month mark is coming up in the next week or so... What happens if they don't serve me my notice before then?

Check that your paperwork from the LA to ensure you weren't served a Section 21 ages ago.

If you've not already been served any notice then at the day following the end of your fixed term you will automatically start a Statutory Periodic Tenancy. (You should be reissued the PI for your deposit if start a SPT. The LA might not realise this and you shouldn't warn them, keep it in the chamber for later. )

At the end of this fixed term you can just leave the property or you can start a SPT.

Rednax

mrginge wrote: »

interesting that the suggested courses of action for the tenant are described as 'militant' by the LA who it appears is quite prepared to threaten bad references, purposely delay deposit return and who knows what other 'consequences' when their tenants do not meet their 'expectations'.
If I was a cynical old chap I may think that such consequences were simply about attempting to intimidate tenants who were unaware of their statutory protections, but of course knowing that many LA's have such a strong level of professional integrity and a regulatory framework to follow, this couldn't possibly be the case.

I am quite aware of a tenant's statutory protections thank you. My posts are simply to provide a balanced view to those like yours which always seem to advise a tenant press the 'big red button' and burn their bridges before trying to reach an agreement.
If I was a cynical old chap I may think that your 'advice' is simply about attempting to encourage conflict to tenants who were unaware of the potential consequences.

mrginge

Rednax wrote: »

I am quite aware of a tenant's statutory protections thank you. My posts are simply to provide a balanced view to those like yours which always seem to advise a tenant press the 'big red button' and burn their bridges before trying to reach an agreement.
If I was a cynical old chap I may think that your 'advice' is simply about attempting to encourage conflict to tenants who were unaware of the potential consequences.

I don't recall making any suggestions to the OP so please don't make assumptions on what advice I would or wouldn't offer.

JencParker

Having recently had my own house on the market (while living here) and know the work that goes into keeping a lived in property in an immaculate view condition, I think it is an imposition of the agency/landlord to expect a tenant to keep it this way for viewings. The tenant is allowing viewings which already disturb her quiet enjoyment, but to expect her to present the property too is a step to far. If they want that they wait till the tenant has moved out. Some people want their cake and eat it.

jjlandlord

If the tenant breaches the tenancy agreement in any way, e.g. by refusing access in a case whereby the tenancy agreement states otherwise then bad references could rightly follow.

A good referencing form asks the right questions, which will call for informative answers if the replies are truthful.

That being said, I have no doubt that some agents or landlords talk out of their backside and just make plain threats of purposely lying, which, as mentioned, could come back to bite them.

Rednax

mrginge wrote: »

I don't recall making any suggestions to the OP so please don't make assumptions on what advice I would or wouldn't offer.

My apologies, you are quite right that I made an assumption that this would be your advice. It is very similar to the assumption that you made of me that I am "quite prepared to threaten" tenants, which is far from the truth.