Renting - what is your opinion on this exchange?

madvicker

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some third party opinions on an exchange between my wife and I with a letting agent before renting a property back in 2015. I know it's 3 years on but it still sits on my mind so hopefully you bear with me... and also apologies for the long post. So below is the email trail before we were due to move in. The very last email is the response we got back from a higher up in the letting agents - we called him directly to try smooth things over as we were desperate to find a house (relocating from London on a tight timescale). Thank you for taking the time to go through this, and please be honest with your opinion - were we wrong to question them? What do you make of their response? General comments welcome.

Email exchange (read from bottom up):

Dear *me*
From reading the tone of your previous email to *LA* I am not sure we are willing to proceed with your tenancy. If you want to give me your bank details we will happily return your money to you and you can go elsewhere.
We are not used to being dictated to in this manner and you have had the terms and conditions which you previously agreed to, and signed for some time. Most landlords will not even accept cats or dogs and as this landlord has just paid for new carpets upstairs we are within our rights to take an extra deposit.
Thanks
*LA higher up*

Hi *LA*,

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. Ok I'm quite happy for it to be held as added deposit as specified. In which case we shall transfer the remaining £250 tonight.

Kind regards

*me*

Sent from my iPhone 6

On 22 Jul 2015, at 21:15, *email* wrote:

Hello *me*,

The £150 is the check in/ check out fee - this covers all paperwork and inventory, this also covers the check out fee so no money is taken from your deposit subject to the condition of the property. We carry out a detailed inventory of the property not just the furniture to protect your deposit. This fee also covers your check out inspection where we go through the whole inventory to ensure the condition of the property. If the check out inspection comes back fine then the deposit will be returned. Most agents charge this fee directly from your deposit. We charge our fees up front so you are aware from the very beginning.

The pet deposit is an insurance, this is to protect the property if there is any damage and will be registered along with your deposit, this is as most properties need to be professional cleaned after a tenant with a pet leaves, if the property is left in good condition then this will be returned just the same as the deposit.

I hope this clarifies all charges, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards
*LA*



Sent from my iPhone

On 22 Jul 2015, at 20:30, *my email*:

Hi *LA*,

We are transferring £1790 to you to cover all the rent, deposit and fees. The reason why we have sent less than what you have requested is because we are not happy with two of the charges. First off is the inventory fee, which we have assumed is £50 given that the check in fee is £50 and the check out and inventory fee together is £100. The property is unfurnished except for the cooker and wardrobe. So what are you asking us to pay you for? Please can you clarify this.

Secondly, the £200 charge for a pet. This is clearly not the landlord charging this. I remember you explaining to me this was a cleaning charge. I have three issues with this. Firstly, why are you trying to charge us £200 straight away before any cleaning is required? Indeed, the cat hasn't even been into the property yet. Secondly, surely the extent of damage (if any) should be assessed after or just before the property is vacated and then a cleaning charge should be levied. It also does state that the pet cleaning charge is at cost, £200 is just an arbitrary number to me at present. Bearing in mind we have one cat and not 6 big hairy dogs. Which leads me onto my last point, I am quite happy to pay an extra £200 on top of the deposit as insurance in case there is any pet damage. This of course to be held as part of a tenancy deposit scheme.

If you can please clarify these two details for me.

Sorry to be a pain but I hope you can understand my reasoning and why I would like clarification.

Kind regards

*me*

Sent from my iPhone 6

On 21 Jul 2015, at 15:54, *email* wrote:

Good afternoon,

I hope you are both well.
What time would you like to come in on *date* to sign the agreement and other paperwork and collect the keys?

*Address* has a prepaid meter for the electric and the current tenants are in debit by £13.88.
We have now registered you with British Gas who provide the electric at this property and they have provided us with a new code which you can take to the shop and they will give you a new key.
When you register the key, this needs to put into the meter for 1 minute, then it will clear the debit and you will be able to go to the shop and top it up.

Just so you are aware as you will be without electric until this is all sorted so the earlier in the day the better so you will be able to get the meter cleared and topped up.

Thank you in anticipation.
Kind Regards,
*LA*

m0t

You had some valid questions but you went about asking them in the wrong way, it was very confrontational and I can see why they decided that you were more trouble than you were worth.

In future ask your questions before transferring any money and think about how you word them.

HampshireH

Did you end up renting or handing the cash back.

I think their responses were fine until someone waded in at the end despite all being agreed.

That said i agree your initial emails could have been better written

bouicca21

So you phrased your questions in a totally confrontational way and you were surprised (and still are) that they concluded you were obnoxious?

madvicker

m0t - with the benefit of hindsight, and 3 years experience in a consulting role I've a completely different appreciation for language. So now, I would have written my questions in a very different way. I agree it was confrontational, but I was surprised to get the response from the higher up - especially after I felt my issues had been resolved so quickly and effectively by the agent.

HampshireH - we ended up renting in the end. Probably not a good thing as we have a bad taste in our mouths whenever we deal with them (as I am sure they do as well). It would have been better to reset and look again, but time wasn't on our side. Especially as it's so difficult to find a suitable house with a landlord who accepts pets.

bouicca21 - I agree my own emails could be written in a far better way. However, as far as I was concerned I felt the issues were resolved after the agent's last reply. I'm not surprised with their conclusion, only the the timing of their last response. Although every dealing I have had with them they get very defensive whenever I question a fee they charge....(perhaps as a result of this initial exchange, or because they don't accept criticism - I can't say)

Gilead

The senior LA probably reviewed the correspondence and came to the conclusion you may turn out to be a difficult tenant, and was willing to put the property back out. It has probably tainted any following issues you have had, and will continue to do so. Especially as you still seem to be unable to get over it yourself.

jennhg88

Went about it in entirely the wrong way in my opinion.

Ask the questions, if satisfied transfer the money.
Not transfer a random amount of money and then ask the questions/state why you have paid less.

Gah!

rtho782

You were right, it's crazy, fees are way over the top, and why the hell should a tenant pay a check out fee, that is a service to the landlord not the tenant. The tenant would happily have no checkout!!

However, renting a house is a seller's market. There is a housing crisis and many many people waiting in line behind you to rent that house if you do not. As such, the "difficult" tenants, that is those that might not roll over and cough up more money on demand, will struggle to find somewhere to live.

You need to pretend you have not a confrontational bone in your body and no idea of your rights until you are firmly in the property.

The letting fees ban cannot come soon enough.

Pixie5740

Letting agency fees in England are pretty hefty and when trying to rent with pets it's often a case of beggars can't be choosers . The time to question the fees was during the application process when you first found out about them rather than waiting until after referencing to transfer part of the money and then sending a confrontational email....that was silly. It might not even have been the letting agent's decision it could have been the landlord who decided you were a PITA.

Wongus

You were absolutely right to question any fees that you deem to be unreasonable and some of them were. The tone is too strong and direct for what you want to achieve, you need to gauge the audience and what you want your outcome to be, its not stupid to play dumb at times.


The things you were disagreeing with should have been discussed before you transferred any monies. The response from the higher up partilaly represents everything that is wrong with this industry, it's a sellers market and the LA have developed an ego where they think they can talk down to clients. I would have told them where to stick it.

iammumtoone

Yes you came across as confrontational but at the same time you we respectful.


I can image they have received a lot worse when dealing with the general public.


I think the issue you have/had is whilst you were right to question, as already said its a sellers market and if you don't just roll over then they will move onto the next person who will. Its a difficult situation as you needed them (ie the house that accepted pets which is not easy to find and you needed it quickly) more than they needed you (they would have found a new tenant in a very short time). In that situation unfortunately you don't have much choice but to roll over and give in to whatever they charge.