Existing and new letting agent legal dispute with landlord - who do I pay rent to?

frustratedrenter_2

Hi there,

Myself and my partner have been renting from a private landlord for a few years, with the management of the property (collecting payments, etc) handled by a letting agent.

Earlier this month, I received a hand delivered letter from a new letting agent, saying that the landlord has appointed them to take over the management of our property with immediate effect, and that rent should now be paid to them.

I emailed both the existing and new agents to see if it was legit, and received conflicting responses:

- The existing agent believes that they're in a fixed term agreement with the landlord, so the landlord can't terminate their services. They told us to ignore any contact from the new agent, and said that they've written to the landlord to dispute the termination.
- The new agent has supplied a solicitor's letter from the landlord, confirming that they want to end the current agent's services and appoint the new agent.

I don't have much faith in letting agents in general as I've always received poor service, so I don't massively care who manages the property in all honesty - they can argue it out amongst themselves. However, who do I pay my rent to in the meantime?

I was tempted to contact the landlord directly (I have a name and address at least), but they're adamant that they want to go with the new agents, so I already know what their answer will be.

The problem is:
- If the existing letting agent can keep the landlord tied into the fixed term contract, we have to keep paying them since we have an agreement with them
- The new agent is saying that since they've been appointed by the landlord, and only payments to them will count as valid rent payments from now on

I feel like we're caught between a rock and a hard place now. I'm happy to move my rent payments to the new agent, since that them keeps them and the landlord happy, but if the current agents manage to keep the landlord tied into a contract, we'll then incur late payment fees for not paying them as we agreed in our AST.

I don't think we should have to suffer knocks to our credit file for not paying our rent to the correct agent (since nobody currently agrees on who that is), or incur any late payment fees, but both agents are definitely spiteful enough to penalise the tenants during this dispute despite us being the innocent party.

Any advice/knowledge would be massively appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Pixie5740

Regardless of whether the landlord uses a letting agent your contract is with the person named on your tenancy agreement i.e. the landlord. If in doubt ask the landlord for clarification, preferably in writing, about where the rent should be paid from now on.

Any contract between the landlord and his letting agent(s) has absolutely nothing to do with you. Neither letting agent will be reporting anything to the credit reference agencies.

gingercordial

I would write (on paper!) to the landlord (not either agent) asking for a written reply from him (not the agent) confirming where exactly the payment should be made to. Keep a copy of what you send, and either proof of postage or a receipt for recorded delivery.

State in your letter that you will be setting rent aside until the payment details are confirmed but will of course hand it over as soon as you receive a formal written response from the landlord.

In the meantime, if you are waiting for a response and it goes over your payment date, put the rent aside and do not spend it! You are going to pay it to someone eventually. Hold it safely until then.

Your credit file will be safe. Rent payments are not reported to the CRAs and the only way it would ever have an impact is if someone went as far as taking you to court for non-payment and got a CCJ against you. However your defence for that would be your formal letter asking for instructions - nobody could argue against it because you are doing things properly and asking for written instructions from your landlord, and holding the rent aside until clarified.

frustratedrenter_2

Thanks both for your quick responses! That's massively reassuring regarding credit files, feeling a bit less anxious now so thank you.

Could either agent charge us late payment fees for withholding our rental payments, do you think?

I'll write to the landlord with proof of postage in the meantime. If I get anything back in writing from them, stating which agent to go with, does that cover our backs regardless of any legal dispute? I know that they want us to go with the new agent, but if they continue to be tied in with the existing one, does that mean the existing agency can penalise us for late payment?

I think what I'm confused about is even though our agreement (AST) is with the landlord, and ultimately we just need to ensure that we do what they want in terms of payment, can the letting agents just charge us late payment fees for their own self interest regardless of what the landlord has instructed?

saajan_12

What role is each party listed as? Who is the landlord listed as?

-> You likely have a contract with the landlord ONLY and are instructed by the landlord to make rent payments to a certain person/bank acc / agent. They can alter this by informing you in writing to pay rent to someone else. You would be late if you don't pay as instructed by the landlord.

-> You likely DON'T have a contract with the agent (barring initial fees for referencing perhaps) so they can't charge you late fees.

BTW not that it's your problem, but even if teh existing agents are correct, they likely only have a right collect their commission, not collect rent, though rent would be great leverage to get commission.

00ec25

frustratedrenter wrote: »

can the letting agents just charge us late payment fees for their own self interest regardless of what the landlord has instructed?

in a word: No

G_M

I have nothing to add to the excellent replies above.

It's for your landlord to instruct you where/how to pay his rent.

frustratedrenter_2

OK, thank you! So if I can get confirmation from the landlord on who to pay rent to, anything after that with other agents is basically not our problem?

Our AST has the existing letting agent's logo on it, and their company name is referred to wherever it mentions where the tenants need to pay their rent to, but they are named as just acting on behalf of the landlord.

The new agent said that they wouldn't issue a new AST as it's only a contract with the landlord and not the agent.

00ec25

frustratedrenter wrote: »

The new agent said that they wouldn't issue a new AST as it's only a contract with the landlord and not the agent.

quite so. Your tenancy is with the LL.

Your LL happens to use an agent for certain administrative aspects of the tenancy, (eg collecting the rent on his behalf) for which he has a totally unrelated contract between himself and his agent. That does not alter the fact of who your LL is, and thus to whom you pay rent.

frustratedrenter_2

Thanks. They just act so heavy handed, it's hard to tell sometimes!

Turns out that the address on our contract for the landlord is a c/o address for the current agents, but I've done some digging and found the actual address online. Tempted to send a letter to that address while I'm waiting on the agents providing me with it officially by request.

saajan_12

frustratedrenter wrote: »

OK, thank you! So if I can get confirmation from the landlord on who to pay rent to, anything after that with other agents is basically not our problem?-
Correct.

Our AST has the existing letting agent's logo on it, and their company name is referred to wherever it mentions where the tenants need to pay their rent to, but they are named as just acting on behalf of the landlord. - Exactly, they have they same rights as Natwest do.. my tenants currently pay into my Natwest bank account but as LL I can inform the tenants to change that and Natwest can't complain. Any resulting bank charges are between Natwest and I.

The new agent said that they wouldn't issue a new AST as it's only a contract with the landlord and not the agent.-
Correct. You just need a written confirmation of the changed rent payment instructions.

*Bank names may have been changed.