Are we being ripped off by letting agents?

Lavendyr

kimbadger wrote: »

We were also made to sign a s.21 in the same way.

kimbadger wrote: »

I found a sneaky clause in our tenancy agreement which states that the landlord can give us two months notice to move out.

If you have been served an S21, according to the new-found information I have thanks to these brilliant forums, once the AST is up, if you move onto a periodic tenancy, he does not have to give you any notice at all. I would not settle for this as you could be turned out at any time quite legally unless you get the S21 revoked in writing.

I would suggest you start looking for somewhere else to live.

kimbadger wrote: »

Also, they will not give us the contact details of our landlord, saying that anything must go through them.

This is not unusual, we too do not have our landlord's home address or contact details, we are required to go through the agency.

Gingernutmeg wrote:

Edit: I've just re-read your second post kimbadger and I thought that legally you had to have a servable address for a landlord or you didn't actually have to pay them rent? Is this true anyone or am I just dreaming?

If the LA is fully managing the property for the LL, they can give their own address as the servable address. This is the case in our AST.

TheDink

kimbadger wrote: »

Unfortunately, I think we may be stuck as we signed a Terms of Business which included the fact that a "renewal fee" would be charged. However, this was presented to us on the day that we moved into the flat and we were told that if we didn't sign it, they would not hand over the keys and we would lose that £600 deposit that we'd already paid. Obviously, we could not afford to lose this AND not have anywhere to live, so we signed it. We were also made to sign a s.21 in the same way.

I am going to phone the letting agents today and ask if we can just let the tenancy default to a statutory periodic tenancy as I do not see any benefit from renewing the AST. They are raising the rent anyway and I found a sneaky clause in our tenancy agreement which states that the landlord can give us two months notice to move out. There is no similar "get out clause" for us - it states that if we want to leave before the end of the fixed term tenancy we will be liable to pay the total amount of rent for the remainder of the duration of the fixed term.

Also, they will not give us the contact details of our landlord, saying that anything must go through them. We have since found out that the landlord is actually the business partner of the letting agent... Dodgy?

Just feeling rather angry and taken advantage of by these cowboy letting agents and I will probably report them to the Office of Fair Trading in the near future to hopefully prevent the same thing happening to others. Thing is, we don't want to move, we love our little flat and are taking such good care of it. We've spent almost every weekend this summer working in the garden and turning it from an uninhabitable jungle of stinging nettles to a really pretty space for us to enjoy.

Anymore advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Contact your local trading standards officer - if you were forced to sign the agreement without being given time to read and fully understand its terms, it is deemed unfair. The same can be true with your new contract - if the landlord can give 2 months notice under a break clause, there should be an option for a break clause for you too.

alijay_3

Good points raised already.
Another is that if the LA has a connection with the LL - be it personal OR business, they MUST disclose this to you as a tenant prior to commencement of the tenancy. It's called 'conflict of interests' and lack of disclosure menas they could be seen to be acting unfairly in favour of the LL.
Re: the AST - if they want to raise rent, they have to issue an ammended agreement. The LL can only issue 2 months notice for you to leave at the end of the term or after unless the 'sneaky clause' is indeed a break clause - but you should have had this clause explained to you at commencement.
OFT seems like a good starting point re 'unfair contract terms'. Ay terms of business/agreement should have been issued to you in good time for you to read it & obtain independent advice if required.
Sounds like a dodgy agent to me!

Regards, Alijay
(independent letting agent)

franklee

alijay wrote: »

OFT seems like a good starting point re 'unfair contract terms'. Ay terms of business/agreement should have been issued to you in good time for you to read it & obtain independent advice if required. Sounds like a dodgy agent to me!

Yes but 4 months down the line how is a tenant going to prove that they were given the terms of business at the last minute and were made to sign under duress? The agent could just say the tenant was given a copy in advance

kimbadger, a bit late now but it would have been better to make a written complaint at the time and even better to ask for a paperwork in advance if it isn't offered. Even so I'd still report them to trading standards. Can you name the agent, if it's a chain I'd like to avoid and I'm sure other tenants would too I feel :mad: about this too!

eco-friendly_2

Agents do not make A PENNY from the tiny 4-8% they charge landlords.




4% ??? No LA in the country charges that for managing a property .

---

Is this normal or are we being ripped off?,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, In some areas ' It's normal '

I'm a LL but trade as a letting agent and issue ASTs for 6 months, I could charge fees for renewal, admin etc, but I don't because it is a RIP OFF

kimbadger

Once again, thank you very much for the further advice.

The letting agent is called Quality Managed Homes, they're based in London.

I will definitely be taking this further as I am so appalled by our dealings with these people.

This tenancy renewal fee isn't the only negative aspect of their "service" to us. For example, after paying our deposit, they demanded 6 monthes of bank statements not only from me but also from my Dad who acted as my garantour. I have a professional career and have never had any financial problems, so why I needed a garantour in the first place is beyond me. I am not a student anymore! That's not all, but I won't go on ...

olly300

The agency is a joke. They obviously don't carry out credit checks with a reputable company. There is no need to ask you for 6 months statements as a some people don't keep more than a few months or don't get paper based statements.

I would report their actions to Trading Standards - you can do it on line http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/consumers/consumers.cfm- and find somewhere else to live.

Have you informed your landlord what the letting agent charges and how they conduct their business? Some landlords don't care but others are bothered particularly if it means them losing long term tenants.

Badger_Lady

Letting Agents always screw you out of your deposit unfairly too:

1) I rented a studio flat for 6 weeks but never actually spent a night there. The agent claimed there was a mark on the front door, so charged me £50 for repainting the door.

2) When I moved out of my last flat, my whole family came to help and my Gran spent 2 hours in the tiny kitchen with an arsenal of cleaners and a step-ladder. The agent said "there was dust on top of the cupboards and the work surfaces were sticky - £65 cleaning charge".

They'll find any way they can to make extra cash from you!!! And you have to provide them with professional receipts to prove you've had carpet /windows cleaned etc - they don't provide the same when they deduct your money 2 months after you've moved out... >:-(

MaxxBadger

Hello everyone, I'm kimbadger's fiance. First, thanks for all your replies...i feel we're really getting screwed here, but what are we supposed to do about it, really? Especially since we want to stay here? The biggest problem for me is, in reply to Olly300s post, our LL is, it turns out, the business partner of our LA. When we moved in we asked if we could speak to our LL regarding some ideas we had for gardening decorating, etc. The LA told us all communications should go through her. After a number of issues came to light as far as their upkeep of the property etc, i became quite angry and demanded the contact details of our LL. To this i was told they were the same as the letting agency, as he was the business partner of our LA. Conflict of interests? AND all those extra charges...i feel like this raping and pillaging is a team effort and there is very little Kim and I can do about it if we want to stay in our lovely little flat.
Does anyone think that at the end of our contract when we do finally move we may be able to recouperate some of out financial losses/charges through action, or will it be way too late?

TheDink

The landlord's address should be on the tenancy agreement (as well as the managing agent's address where notices can be served). Put a request for the landlord's address in writing to the agent - legally they must provide it to you within 21 days.

I'm not sure how far contacting the LL will get you though if they are the partner of the agent. If you do start kicking up a fuss, they are likely to make you leave. Have you spoken to citizen's advice?