Landlord letting agency dispute - can I keep the tenants?

rina1973

Two years ago I used a letting agency to find me tenants. To cut the story short, from the beginning I never seemed to get any answers from the agency each time I called them or attended the office from getting a tenancy agreement to inventory or even not paying the rent on time (they blamed the tenants for not paying the rent on time which was a lie).

I am on rent collection contract with the agency; it appears they are the Landlords to my property and they have a tenancy agreement with my tenants. All I received from them was too pages of small print of terms and conditions. My tenant pays the agency and agency then pays me the rent. Both me and my tenant pay admin fee in addition to all standard fees I paid; 12% annual charge, inventory, deposit scheme, references, ect.

As I cannot get any answers from the letting agency I would like to cancel my contract with them by giving them two months notice. This is when the tenancy agreement will finish with the tenants too. I have no problems with the tenants and the tenants are very happy with me as a landlord.

Will I be able to keep the tenants after cancelling the contract with the agency or can I be sued for keeping the same tenants? I am willing to use other firm to represent the tenants, as the tenants are the innocent party here and they have asked me not to kick them out.

G_M

You need to read and understand all contracts.

It sounds as if you have let the property to the agent. In that case you have a commercial (non AST) tenancy with them, and they have sub-let the property (AST) to the 'tenants' (who are actually 'sub-tenants').

If that is the case you need to check the terms of your tenancy with the agent to see how it can be ended.

More normally, your tenancy would be an AST directly betwen you and the 'tenants', with the agent acting simply as .... well 'agent' to do certain things on your behalf eg collect rent etc. If THAT is the case, the set up is entirely different - so check which it is.

Either way, read the contract you signed with the agent. Until you post details here, we cannot advise on best procedure, or what can/can't be done.

Though this post may help:

* Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

As for using "other firm to represent the tenants"
a) agents don't represent tenants, they represent landlords and
b) why? if you have a good relationship with the tenants, why not self-manage your property and take control?

rina1973

Thx for info.


It does appear the letting agency are subletting my property as the tenancy agreement is between them and the tenants.


I keep reading the two pages of small print they gave me and I cant seem to find anywhere a mention of cancellation between myself and the agency. It refers to giving two months notice to the tenants.


I can't recall I have signed any contract with the agency (not sure though as it was two years ago) and the copy they gave me does not have my signatures.

G_M

The agent cannot let a property they have no rights to.

If they have let the property out, either
* they own the property (clearly not) or
* they are renting the property from the owner, in which case there must be a tenancy agreement between landlord (you) and tenant (agent). That agreement of course could be verbal, in which case I foresee arguements about the terms of that tenancy.

You must have something that authorises them to either work for you as your agent or rent from you as your tenant...... :eek:

The best set-up for you would be if they are your agents. You can then give them notice. Lacking any contractual agreement to the contrary 2 months notice would be fair, one month plausible. A court would agree with you if it came to a dispute. It may be in your interests to assume this is the case, talk to the 'tenants', and follow the procedure outlined in my linked post above.

However if they claim to have a commercial tenancy with you (rather than acting as your agents), it is harder to end such a tenancy - especially if the terms are unknown!

Does their website offer any clue? eg how they operate generally? Or whether they have standard contracts on the website?

Are they a national chain? Or a one-off micky-mouse outfit (sounds possible - but then, with respect, you sound like a one-off micky-mouse landlord....)

His_Dudeness

Looking at the overall setup and circumstances, it is quite possible that they are still only your agents.

If so, the first thing to do would be to instruct your tenants to pay their rent directly to you from the next payment date.
Then, give notice to your agent that you are letting them go. Without any clause on the matter I would give them no more than one month notice.

Should they actually be your tenants, subletting to the person occupying the property, and since there does not seem to be any documentation or minimum term, you should be able to end their lease with a standard notice to quit. The notice period would probably be one month.
On expiry their tenancy would end.

The main issue in either case, in my view, is the security deposit of the tenant (the person occupying the property).
If it is held by your agent, they may not be cooperative should you wish to make deductions. Or, if your agent were in fact the landlord, you would no right to make any deduction and the deposit would have to be returned at the expiry of the eventual notice to quit.

It would perhaps be worth having a consultation with a knowledgeable solicitor to clarify the situation, as it could get messy.

rina1973

Thank you for your replies.


The Agents never explained to me the procedure and being a new landlord I did not understand how things work...... I am just learning now. Its difficult to understand when you ask an agent a question and they never reply to your question! Only in this forum did I realise my property might be a commercial property!


Their website does not offer any clues; they seem to be a letting agency. There is no mention of being a commercial letting agency and I never had a written agreement stipulating that! The terms and conditions in their website seem short; similar to what I was given. They seem to give more rules to tenants than landlords on their website.
I was never given a codes of practice and complaints procedure. When I complained about their service by email in the past they told me they could not accept it and I should make it in writing and by post but they never sent me the details where to complain. My fault for not pursuing it; no excuse but my partner convinced me against complaining at that time.


I guess I should just let the tenants go too and learn from mistakes.

G_M

Which scheme do they belong to? Their website and/or paperwork should make clear? Or check with each scheme directly:

1 Professional Bodies

Since 1st October 2014, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 S83 requires letting agents in England to sign up to one of 3 schemes:

* The Property Ombudsman
* Ombudsman Services Property
* Property Redress Scheme

As for "let the tenants go too and learn from mistakes." :
1) if your contract with the agent is a commercial tenancy, then you have no direct tenancy with the occupants of the property. The agent is your tenant so you cannot evict (or 'let go') the occupants.

2) however I icreasingly suspect you have an AST tenancy direct with the occupants and the agent is simply working on your behalf. Yes, you could issue a S21 Notice and evict the tenants - but why???? Keep them. It's the agent you don't like.

Follow the 8 steps in my linked post.

G_M

As a novice LL getting up to speed, when you have time, read:

Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants

His_Dudeness

rina1973 wrote: »

Only in this forum did I realise my property might be a commercial property!

Your property is clearly not a commercial property.

However, if the conclusion is that it is let to your 'agent' (again, I do not think that it is the case, but that's for a lawyer to advise on) then you have a lease with a company or an individual who does not reside there, and therefore that lease is not an assured shorthold tenancy although I don't think that it can be a business tenancy either (best to ask a lawyer).

rina1973

They speak highly of themselves on their website;


"We have won the prestigious Allagents ‘Best Agent’ award 2013 and 2014 based on over 2500 reviews from satisfied clients.
Are members of the Property Ombudsman Scheme and the National Approved Letting Scheme, and have been awarded the ISO9002 accreditation for quality of internal management systems."


Thank you so much for your help. Will look at all the documents suggested.

rina1973

I have sent an email to the agents asking them about what type of contract do I have with them; apart from the two pages I was given which are not signed by neither of us and do not explain what to do in cancellation of the contract. I do not expect a reply from them as they never seem to reply to my questions. Nevertheless, I will give them time to reply and if they do not than I will have to think my next course of action; I guess I might have to involve a solicitor in the end.