Letting agent apparently gone bust

Scoobing

Hi,

We've been renting a flat in London since March 2017. We found the flat via a local letting agent. They carried out the viewing and drew up the tenancy agreement.

The agreement is between us and the landlord. The deposit was paid to the letting agent and was registered with the mydeposits scheme.

Now the letting agent is not answering any calls, emails, office is closed and this has been the case for months, with others on google reviews commenting the same.

We're not renewing our lease once it expires in March this year (2018). Should we be taking any action to ensure our deposit is returned?

From what I have read it is the LL's obligation to return this deposit to us, so we shouldn't worry. What are the chances of that being the case in practice?

Cheers

Scoobing

HampshireH

You will claim it back via the scheme No?

Scoobing

I guess that depends on if the letting agency actually held the deposit or it was held in a separate client account?

It was (thankfully) registered with mydeposits and I have a DPC number for that.

It's likely we don't need to do anything further - but wanted to be prepared in case I should.

G_M

Are you still paying rent? To the landlord or the agent?

Have you got the landlord's address? Have you been in contact?

What address is on the tenancy agreement "for serving notices" on the landlord?

As for the deposit, it is for the landlord to refund it, so provided you know who/where he is you can claim it back from him. or the DPS.

Scoobing

We've always paid rent to the Landlord, we have his name and address on the tenancy agreement, not the letting agent.

I have been in touch with him today to ask him for a reference for the our new place we have lined up in March. I mentioned I think the letting agent is out of business, so it may be the first he has heard of it!

Ok, thanks for the advice and reassurance, not a pleasant situation to be in but much more unpleasant for the landlord I think!

G_M

Scoobing wrote: »

...... not a pleasant situation to be in but much more unpleasant for the landlord I think!

not half as bad as if you'd been paying rent to the agent who hadn't been passing it to the LL, and then went bust!

Sounds like the agent doesn't manage the tenancy anyway, so doesn't affect the LL.

JDC123

Hi, I am in a very similar situation to the OP. It may even be the same Letting Agents as the timing, deposit scheme and city are the same.

Our deposit is protected by MyDeposits. Though we have received a letter saying this will cease to be the case from the 29th of Febuary, due to the Letting agent cancelling their membership. Its my understanding the LL should be re-protecting our deposit either under their name with My Deposits or a different deposit scheme?

More worryingly we have been paying our rent to the agent. We are in contact with the LL, they have only realised this month they have not received our rent since October. We have ceased paying rent to the agent.

Our LL would like to draw up a seperate tenancy agreement going forward. I believe this to be unneccesary as our original contract is still valid (till August) as they are the named Landlord on the contract, not the agency? However the address to serve notices on the contract is the Letting Agency, does this affect us aside from getting in contact?

Should we make alternative arrangements to pay the rent direct to the landlord? and continue to abide by the existing tenancy agreement? This feels like the sensible next step but any advice would be extremely helpful. We've been unable to get independent advice from Citizens advice or Shelter so far.

Thanks.

G_M

JDC123 wrote: »

Our deposit is protected by MyDeposits. Though we have received a letter saying this will cease to be the case from the 29th of Febuary, due to the Letting agent cancelling their membership. Its my understanding the LL should be re-protecting our deposit either under their name with My Deposits or a different deposit scheme?
Are you asking whether that is your understanding? I don't know!
However, the LL has a legal duty to protect your deposit and keep it protected.

More worryingly we have been paying our rent to the agent. We are in contact with the LL, they have only realised this month they have not received our rent since October. We have ceased paying rent to the agent.
Wise.
I would also draw up a schedule showing on what dates, and how much, you have paid the agent, and give this to your lanlord. Since you have paid this rent to your LL's appointed agent, you are not in arrears. Whether his agent passes the rent on to him is his problem, not yours.

Our LL would like to draw up a seperate tenancy agreement going forward. I believe this to be unneccesary as our original contract is still valid (till August) as they are the named Landlord on the contract, not the agency?
Again, I don't understand your '?'. If you are asking us whether that is your belief, we don't know.
However, you are right tha no new TA is needed. You and the LL can choose to sign a new one, if you both wish, but it is optional.
However the address to serve notices on the contract is the Letting Agency, does this affect us aside from getting in contact?
You should conttinue to serve notices, and formal communication, via the address provided to you, until the LL amends this in writing.
However, it is common sense to
a) copy any letters to him at his actual address if you have it, and
b) point out to him that he may wish to amend the official address

Should we make alternative arrangements to pay the rent direct to the landlord?
That is a decision for the LL.
However it is common sense to arrange this with him.
and continue to abide by the existing tenancy agreement?
Yes. Your TA is still legally binding on you both.
.

..............................................................

JDC123

Thank you for your quick response and excellent advice G_M. Apologies for the confusing question marks!

G_M

Yeah. Pedantic I know.

Crashy_Time

A letting agent in London going bust is like swimming in South Australia, or maybe South Africa, and seeing all the small fish running for cover, time to get out of the water folks.....