Lettings agency wants me to send keys to a different address than provided in contrac

AndyAtu

I am vacating the property I have been renting for the past 4 years. I have offered to post keys to them by next day delivery as they can't meet me at the property.

They've emailed me back asking that I post them to an address different than the one in the tenancy agreement/deposit protection scheme. They've never made me aware of a change in their address. Will I be doing anything wrong if I post them to the address they have indicated, rather than the one in the agreement?

theartfullodger

Ask for written confirmation (i.e. a letter) from the landlord: Your contract is with whoever is named as landlord in the tenancy contract: Yes I know agent arranged it & signed it.

Also take LOTS of photos of the place in case there is a deposit dispute.

AndyAtu

SMTh around the lines of "I am sorry,but that's not the address Ihav been provided with in the tenancy agreement. Could you please provide written confirmation from landlord that that is the address he would like me to return the keys to?" Thanks

theartfullodger

Yes but if they are up to no good it may well be fraudulent:

Ask the landlord, directly( i.e. 'phone, email or write to him) , to write to you.

If you can't get sensible reply return keys as specified in the contract.

G_M

As above, get written confirmation.

I don't think that confirmation needs to come from the LL. In some cases that might be hard eg if the LL lives overseas. There are a number of genuine reasons why the address might be different, however you do need to be sure.

a) Assuming you have written confirmation that the agent is the LL's agent (and I assume this is not really in doubt? You've been paying rent to them for X months/years?), then the agent can instruct you on the LL's behalf

b) but you'd be wise to get the instruction confirmed in writing (ie a letter on the agent's headed notepaper.)

AndyAtu

I've got email from them. I've been paying rent to them for years but they've never advised of change in address.

AndyAtu

I don't have contact detail for landlord. His address in the contract is the same as agency address. The one that I was aware of that is.

G_M

So do as instructed by the LL's authorised agent. He is being paid by the LL to manage the property on the LL's behalf, so an instruction from the agent is legally the same as an instruction from the LL.

Just get writen confirmation of the instruction.

Or try the phone? Ring the agent and ask why the new address. They'll probably give you a perfectly reasonable explanation and you then say "Thanks very much, can you confirm that in a letter and I'll be happy to oblige."

thesaint

You have got confirmation from the agents, forget about the landlord.

AndyAtu

Update: when I asked why the change in address they said they moved over 6 months ago.

Are they under no obligation to make tenants aware of their change in premises?

I find that very fustrating. We were in a contractual relationship and they have been harrasing me with emails and phone calls and letters about every little thing. But never occurred to them to let me know they've moved, what if I would've already had sent keys back to the address I was aware of.

Sorry. Rant over.

Guest101

AndyAtu wrote: »

Update: when I asked why the change in address they said they moved over 6 months ago.

Are they under no obligation to make tenants aware of their change in premises?

I find that very fustrating. We were in a contractual relationship and they have been harrasing me with emails and phone calls and letters about every little thing. But never occurred to them to let me know they've moved, what if I would've already had sent keys back to the address I was aware of.

Sorry. Rant over.

That would be the agents problem. Not yours.

As far as 'harassing' you, if thats what they were doing, you should have A: asked them to stop or B: gone to the police, to ask them to stop. - I suspect you mean they were being typical letting agents.