I want to take my lettings agent to court. Do I have a case?

flora55

Hello,

I'm a tenant and want to take my lettings agent to the small claims court but I'm not sure if my case would stand up. I rented a property and moved in on the 1st March. I had to pay £480 in tenant fees which was for referencing, drawing up the tenancy agreement and a checkout fee. However on the 30th March a flat above flooded and caused extensive water damage. My flat has been deemed uninhabitable and the repair work is going to take around 3 months. My landlord agreed that we could terminate the agreement and I would move out permanently and find somewhere else to live as 2/3 months is too long to be staying with friends.

I asked the letting agent if they could return some of the fees I paid as £480 is a lot of money to be paying to live somewhere for 30 days. They have refused saying I received the products that the money was for. From my perspective, I paid for those products under the assumption they would be valid for a year not 30 days. I've been advised to take them to the small claims court. But do I have a case?

Pixie5740

They're not your letting agency, they never were, you had no contract with them as your contract was with the landlord. Who has advised you to take the letting agent to small claims court?

elverson

I'm guessing they haven't carried out the end of tenancy checkout which you paid for?

elverson

Pixie5740 wrote: »

They're not your letting agency, they never were, you had no contract with them as your contract was with the landlord. Who has advised you to take the letting agent to small claims court?

But the tenant fees are charged *before* the tenant enters into the contract with the agent, so do they not have a contract with the agency for these specific services?

flora55

Well I was paying my rent to the lettings agent not the landlord. I work at a newspaper and the money editor here advised me to take them to court. He said the fees were unreasonable for a 30 day tenancy.

flora55

And no, they cannot carry out the checkout report becuase the whole property is a building site and currently has no floors or ceilings! While the leak was nobody's fault I feel like we will be the ones out of pocket as the landlord has landlord insurance to cover the rent he will miss out on and the lettings agent get to keep the fees (and then make them again when they rent the property in a few months) whereas we as the tenants now have to find somewhere else to live, pay fees again, and be out of pocket through no fault of our own. Just wondered if there is anything we could do or if we just have to accept it.

agrinnall

I think you might have a claim against the LL (or more likely his insurer) for consequential loss - the only reason you are having to pay the fees again is because you are unable to stay in the original property.

Pixie5740

flora55 wrote: »

Well I was paying my rent to the lettings agent not the landlord.

It is irrelevant who the rent was paid to, many landlords engage a letting agent to collect the rent on their behalf. Your contract was with the person named on the tenancy agreement.

flora55 wrote: »

I work at a newspaper and the money editor here advised me to take them to court. He said the fees were unreasonable for a 30 day tenancy.

You paid the fees to be referenced and you were referenced regardless of whether your tenancy lasted for 30 days or 30 months. It is unfortunate that the tenancy had to be ended early but I don't think you'll win if you take the letting agency to small claims court. You could possibly have tried to include it in your early surrender with the landlord but it's a bit late now. It wouldn't hurt to ask the landlord to refund you the money though. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Pixie5740

jondav wrote: »

Some people on here will ALWAYS say "forget it, you have no case" and I can't quote how many times, but in some cases they are very definitely wrong.

Do you have any evidence of these cases where "they" are very definitely wrong and/or what "they" were wrong about?

The_Logans

I think your claim is against the LL insurance, not the letting agent.

mrginge

Referencing and tenancy fee forget it.

Check out fee should be refunded.

God knows why you agreed an early termination without some compensation being included.