Paying two different agents to rent

covgarbc

Hi there, I'm having trouble finding advice on this situation and want to know if it's common practice. I'm new to the forums so I wasn't sure where to start!

We are looking to rent a property that we recently viewed. We were shown around by the tenant who told us the agency who set up the viewing was helping her find a replacement as she needed to move out after only being there for a month and was looking to move.

We liked the flat and contacted this agent and said we were interested and were told to go ahead we would need to pay £100 to them first and then we would be passed onto the original agent that managed the property with this tenant to pay the actual tenancy fees/deposit/rent etc. (we weren't aware there was another agency when we set up the viewing). As the tenant had broken her tenancy agreement she needed to find someone to replace her.

I tried to ask what this other agency was as I wanted to check who they were and was told I wouldn't be given the details until I paid as it would mean I could essentially just go direct to them.

I've never encountered this before and something seems off about the situation and I'm not keen to move ahead at the moment, but just wanted to know if has anyone had any experience with this?

agrinnall

It seems very dubious, I'd insist on the current tenant paying any fees that you are charged over and above the fees chargeable to actually rent the property. Personally I'd walk away and find somewhere else, but I realise that might not be something that appeals to you.

Cakeguts

What sort of agent did you contact in the first place? By this I mean was it a letting agent who is a member of professional organisations like NAEA or was it an agent who advertises on a website but doesn't have an office that you can visit?

RiversTam

If the original tenant has only been there a month can you not search for the original advert? Then you'll know the agent directly.

covgarbc

Hiya, thanks for replying.

The agency itself seemed to check out initially. The ad was on Zoopla and doing a quick search of the agency themselves shows me there is an office and from what I saw its not part of a chain so it's just that one office branch. They were listed with Property Ombudsman so was willing to at least do a viewing, but I just don't feel confident to go ahead really.

Mahsroh

In your situation I would be dubious too, but there may not be necessarily anything untoward going on. Sounds like the tenant has been told that to terminate early they need to find replacement tenants so they have engaged with a letting agent different to the one used by the Landlord who possibly manage the property. The outgoing tenants agents just want their pound of flesh... although not really sure why they aren't looking at the outgoing tenant for their fees...

Whether i'd walk away or pay the £100 would probably come down to how much I liked the property. But I guess there is a risk that you'll pay the £100, with no guarantees that you'll end up entering into a tenancy agreement......

covgarbc

Thanks for all your replies, I agree it seems likely the agent is trying to make the most of the situation and getting their fee for it. I did have a quick look to see if there was an original advert to see what was going on but couldn't seem to find a similar property anywhere. Mahsroh I agree, we probably need to see how much we actually want it, because once they have that £100 and we're with the other agency I doubt we'd see it again if anything went wrong!

fairy_lights

covgarbc wrote: »

I did have a quick look to see if there was an original advert to see what was going on but couldn't seem to find a similar property anywhere.

I don't know how many agents you've got in your area, but for the sake of £100/possible scamming it might be worth phoning round a few to see if any of them are the original agent?

Marvel1

Walk away, sounds like a scam.

Mahsroh

fairy_lights wrote: »

I don't know how many agents you've got in your area, but for the sake of £100/possible scamming it might be worth phoning round a few to see if any of them are the original agent?

Yeah, admittedly, the fact that the OP can't see it having been advertised recently does ring alarm bells slightly. I hadn't seen than before I posted my "not necessarily anything untoward" comments above.

Other option is spend a couple of quid finding the landlord via Land Registry and contact them directly......

FBaby

Or it is true that the tenant wants to move after only one month (did you by the way ask them why?), they will be desperate for a replacement to be found, so I would knock on the door and ask them if they'd be prepared to share the name of the agency they deal with or even better the name of the Landlord.