Rental deposit return

bonnand

Thanks for your help.

After a detailed reply to the agent he has just brushed it off and basically said start legal action.

Don't really want to do this, would mediation be a good step to consider and offer to LL and agent?

Thank tou

Heather2603

They've made their position clear, I think your only option would be small claims but reading the above I'm not sure that anything they've asked for is unreasonable. This is the cost to the landlord for reletting. He had already paid these once 4 weeks ago so obviously views it as why should he have to pay them again? I can';t say I disagree with them.

By my calculation though it's £480.00 of fees? Therefore you should still have £220 returned to you. Have they explained why they are not returning the additional sum?

I do think £480 for terminating 5 months early is a bargain in relation to paying the rent for 5 months

bonnand

I have asked for an explanation of fees but this isn't going to happen.

I have thought of settling for the sum you have shown but still feel that some of the costs are plucked out of the air and i have emailed and told him this, also asking he read my answers in detail and respond fully. I have also advised I want to settle amicably and quickly.

I see the point you made about early exit but this was agreed on both sides. And if he had mentioned costs and the possibility of no return of the deposit, then I would have remained in the property reluctantly.
Thanks

pmlindyloo

From October 2014 all letting agents must be registered with a compulsory redress scheme.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-complain-about-your-property-agent

Go onto your letting agent's website and find out which one they are registered with.

You have done everything you can by complaining directly to the letting agent so this is your next step.

Before you contact them I suggest you thoroughly read both your contract and any information about fees on their website so you know exactly the details of your complaint which basically seems to revolve around fees not being advertised correctly.

Once you have spoken to the scheme then you will know how to move forward.

Please come back and tell us what they say!

theEnd

LL might have explained it badly, but how did you expect to terminate a 6 month contract for £29? Seriously?

saajan_12

I apologise if I missed a couple of details in my response, but am genuinely trying to help. I understand that you openly explained your geniune reasons to leave early, and the LL/agent COULD helped you out by letting you leave without much penalty, but legally they don't have to. Many of your comments focus on how little work was involved in the fees they are claiming, but agents do not work for free and lots of little jobs add up.

The fees they suggest don't seem unreasonable to me and are in line with typical letting agent fees.. it doesn't matter what else they do for the LL. Remember an early termination is a new agreement between you and the LL, and everything is up for negotiation regardless of the costs involved. Your argument is therefore that at the point of terminating, the agreement was vacate by 31March and you are charged reletting fees.

Now that you have a breakdown of what they are claiming, you don't need to go into rent, reasons for leaving etc. Your argument should focus on the fees never being agreed and had you known you wouldn't have left early.

bonnand wrote: »

This is the reply I have received today from the LL's agent in reply to the various goings on, I have taken out our names etc:

"Hi My name,

I can confirm to you that the reason why we had not returned the deposit to you is for the following reason's.

It is not as simple as finding a new tenant it cost both myself and the landlord time on advertising the property and letting it.

I had confirmed to both yourself and wife that we will have to take deductions from your deposit to cover the cost and you both agreed to this, please see below a breakdown:

The Tenant find cost for the new tenant was £200

There was no mention of this at all, agent only advised that there would be a £30.00 fee for putting on to listing site- ok, so say £200 never agreed

Drawing up of new AST contract's £100

If it was the same as our one, it consists of a standard tenant agreement consisting of 5 double sided sheets which the LL's agent filled in himself before we arrived, (and I now realise was not witnessed), we signed the agreement and initialed each page- the work isn't nothing, and £100 is in line with the industry. The point is £100 was never agreed.

Advertising the property was £29 - This was as agreed

Inventory inspection that the landlord had asked to be carried out at a cost of £50. The LL's agent walked around with me and confirmed he was happy with everything- the work isn't nothing though, and reasonable for ~30min inc travel time. The point is this was never agreed.

I also had to make Two visit to yourself costing £25.00 each visit.No mention was ever made of this fee and nothing is mentioned in the tenancy agreement- If this was routine visits during the tenancy then you're right it should be in the original tenancy agreement. If this was in relation to the termination, then the original agreement is irrelevant, the point is it wasn't agreed in the early termination.

When you left the property you did show me a stain to the carpet in the hallway and said this was water from the washing machine as you had moved it and that it will dry, i have since found out this is not a water stain this is dirt on the the carpet and has cost £50 to have the carpets cleaned. This I accept, I was hoping that this would clear up when dried out

Both Myself and the landlord feel we where very accommodating by letting you move out of the property early when you had only been in there one month and we could still recover 5 months rent from yourself and wife. This was discussed openly and genuine reasons for wanting to exit early were given, I have long stated that if we were told of extra costs, no deposit return etc; thgen it would be a different matter and we would not be on here!!

I look forward to your response.

Kind Regards

Your argument is that the separately negotiated argument to terminate the tenancy was vacate by and pay rent until 31March, and you pay reletting fees which were specifically quoted to be £30. I suspect you'll need proof they agreed this would be the only reletting fees you would cover though.

As for next steps, practically the only option is to file a money claim. You'll have to pay the court fees though, and only recover these if you win the case.

bonnand

Many thanks for continuing advice etc.

I will follow this up and discuss but the agent isn't a true letting agent, he acts for his boss who is the LL so it may not be possible.

As to the point of settling for £29, if all the so called fees had been raised and explained at the start of the process, as I have already stated, I would still very reluctantly I must admit, be living there. There has been plenty of time to raise these costs at the start of our request to end the tenancy early. In my job, I have to list costs to a customer before proceeding, surely a LL should do the same?

I am ready to send an email to settle for half the deposit to close the matter quickly.

Thanks again.

macman

'a tenant is being upfront and honest about the situation of why the tenancy ended early'.

You keep repeating this mantra, but it's completely irrelevant whether you were 'open and honest' or lied through your back teeth about why you wanted to leave. You sought to break the contract, and the LA agreed to you doing so under stated conditions.
Whether he has lost income or not is also irrelevant.
What baffles me is why, during your meeting and subsequent exchange of emails, you never questioned the status of the deposit, which was surely your paramount concern.
If you take an action through the county court, you may well find that you are served a counter-claim from the LA claiming the full 6m rental. This would leave you much worse off than you are now.
You are confusing what is 'fair,' with what is the civil law.

bonnand

Sorry to report this but I have stated several times both verbally and via email that I asked and discussed return of the deposit with the agent. Not once was there any point raised to me about not returning it, made up fees and paying the full term of rent. My only mantra is: if he had been open and honest I would not be discussing this situation at all as I would still be living in the property. I have written evidence that the agent stated the deposit was in a scheme and then he confirmed it had not been registered!

Surely someone who is reputable would speak up from the start of a process and state you may have to pay extra fees or not get money back. It's not a mantra, it's a fact and I now realise I have been dealing with an unscrupulous LL and agent who will lie to rip people off.

Pixie5740

You've sent your letter before action. The LL disagrees with you so if you want your money back and you believe you have a case take action i.e. file a Money Claim Online. If you don't want to go to small claims court then suck it up.