How long can letting agent keep 'reservation fee' without giving a response?

MartyCH85

Hi,

My wife and I have paid a reservation fee of £600 on a rental property last week. The fee was originally only £300, but the Letting Agent drove the price up when we refused his suggestion that of breaking the terms of our existing tenancy agreement to move in early. He put the price up because he wanted us to show that we were "serious about making an offer." In order for us to meet the agreed move-in date, we've had to hand in our notice for our current place.

Once he received our money he started claiming that there was an issue with my bank statements - that he wasn't happy with my credit cards and that he refused to do any credit checks until he'd shown his "findings" to the Landlord. This was five days ago and we've still had no response. We've chased the Agent several times but keeps just saying that he hasn't heard back from the Landlord.

Does he have a time limit to get back to us? This is obviously incredibly unsettling for us. We've been backed into a position where, if they take too long to get back to us and then say no, we could potentially be homeless. If we back out of this offer now to try and find somewhere else, we lose all of that £600, and we can't really afford to do that right now. We certainly can't afford to be putting offers on other properties "just in case" this one falls through.

Is there anything I can do to force a decision? Or anything I can do to force him to refund our money if they don't give us a response?

Thanks in advance.

PS - The letting agent also hasn't taken the property off the market, despite that being what the reservation fee was supposedly for. It's still on the front page of their website as well as several other property websites.

theartfullodger

MartyCH85 wrote: »

How long can letting agent keep 'reservation fee' without giving a response?.

Depends what the terms and conditions were on the reservation fee receipt or as publicized on their website/email sent when you did it.

Sadly, yet again, I am unable to read these from here: What do they state, please, Marty?

MartyCH85

Thanks for the response, their terms and conditions don't mention reservation fees at all, and in the email we got through prior to payment stated: "[FONT=&quot]This would be refundable, with the exception of the charges for the tenant assessment credit checks and Right to Rent checks, in the event that references proved unsatisfactory or that the Landlord decided not to proceed with the tenancy. However, should you decide not to take up the tenancy, the £600.00 would be non refundable."

And that's all - nothing is specifically mentioned about a time limit. I've tried to see if there's any legal guidelines regarding this, but I can't find anything, hence why I was posting here.

Many Thanks
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Fosterdog

Its still very early days, you paid it just five calander days ago, take out the weekend and that's only three working days. In that time he has had to assess your initial paperwork, contact the landlord, and wait for a respinse from the landlord who may not have even had chance to look into it yet, it could be away.

I understand that it's unsettling but it's only been a few days

theartfullodger

See sections 6.19 - 6.28 of...
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319820/Lettings_guidance_CMA31.PDF
&
http://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_options/paying_for_accommodation/paying_for_private_rented_housing#1

MartyCH85

Hey,

Thanks for the links, they've been very helpful