Start of tenancy woes

Richardu

Hi,

So little bit of background i have made a formal complaint against a agency who have been very poor at getting me moved in to one of their properties.
They have said on afew occasions they do not manage it the landlord does.
I have signed a tenancy agreement and the agency have singed on behalf of the landlord.
I have then told the agency i no longer wish to take the property and want all my money back.
In the mean time i have spoken to the landlord and have gone private with him on the same property which i am now living in.
I got the below from the agency today..
As there is an executed tenancy agreement in place, I need to arrange a Deed of Surrender to be signed by yourself and the Landlord to formally end the tenancy. I have tried to speak to the Landlord today and am waiting for him to return my call. I have also sent him an SMS. We would also need evidence that you have not moved in to the property and that the belongings that were put inside have now been removed. Once we have this in place and confirmed, we can then discuss the refund of move in monies paid.

Is the above legal surely i am of no obligationto prove anythingto them?

Regards
Richard

mrginge

You are not getting any money back.
You signed an agreement and have moved in.

anselld

You have no obligation to the agent.
You have a tenancy with the Landlord which remains valid.
The fact that the Landlord has effectively sacked the agent is entirely a matter between the agent and the Landlord.

Ignore agent, ask Landlord to deal with his problem.

If money you paid was a deposit it is still down to the L to protect it.
Any agency fees, kiss goodbye.

Richardu

So is it down to the landlord to get his money from the agency then?

mrginge

Richardu wrote: »

So is it down to the landlord to get his money from the agency then?

The landlord is shortly going to find out that he can’t just ignore the agency and that if he has signed a contract for them to find a tenant then he is going to get a bill.

-taff

You and the landlord tried to save yourselves some money by attempting to cut the agency out. Unfortunately, they're better at keeping their money than you both expected.

FBaby

What money? The LL will have signed an agreement with the agency and will be liable to honour it whatever the terms.

You will have also agreed to pay whatever fees to the agency. These won't be refundable (or very unlikely).

saajan_12

Richardu wrote: »

Hi,

So little bit of background i have made a formal complaint against a agency who have been very poor at getting me moved in to one of their properties.- okay, can't really comment without further details.
They have said on afew occasions they do not manage it the landlord does. - then you need to talk to the LL, many LLs engage a letting agent to find a tenant and initial paperwork, but manage themselves.. nothing wrong with this.
I have signed a tenancy agreement and the agency have singed on behalf of the landlord. - okay, perfectly fine. The agency may have instructions to sign on the LL's behalf. As far as you're concerned, it makes no difference. If they LL / agency tells you to deal with the LL directly after this, you can still continue under the same agreement.
I have then told the agency i no longer wish to take the property and want all my money back. - WOOOAH why? You cannot unilatterally demand this, you'd need the LL to agree which they don't have to do. Note the money for rent / deposit go to your LL, so you're demanding it back from them. Whether the agency keeps some under a separate agreement between LL&agents is nothing to do with you. Fees you have paid the agency for referencing etc have been 'used' and are not due back.
In the mean time i have spoken to the landlord and have gone private with him on the same property which i am now living in. - so why do you want your money back? You've paid rent, tell teh LL to get it from the agency.
I got the below from the agency today..
As there is an executed tenancy agreement in place, I need to arrange a Deed of Surrender to be signed by yourself and the Landlord to formally end the tenancy. - good, sounds like they are doing it correctly. I have tried to speak to the Landlord today and am waiting for him to return my call. I have also sent him an SMS. We would also need evidence that you have not moved in to the property and that the belongings that were put inside have now been removed. - you don't have to provide this, but then the agency also don't have to help with any refund / surrender. You could mutually draft and sign a surrender with the LLand chase them for any refunds. The agency will also likely chase the LL for their commission if they don't receive proof you haven't moved in, and while this isn't directly your problem, your LL may be unwilling to surrender / refund you for things if they ahve to pay commission. Once we have this in place and confirmed, we can then discuss the refund of move in monies paid.

Is the above legal surely i am of no obligationto prove anythingto them?

Regards
Richard

They are acting perfectly reasonably and legally. You have a binding contract to rent the property. You can mutually agree a surrender with the LL if you BOTH choose to, but neither is under any obligation. The agency is under no obligation to do anything as your contract is with the LL, so can demand any proof / fees they like. Any refund of rent / deposit should be from the LL as this is who you were ultimately paying. For admin / referencing fees, it depends on who you were paying, but since you got the benefit of what they were paying for, its unlikely a refund is due.

Comms69

Richardu wrote: »

Hi,

So little bit of background i have made a formal complaint against a agency who have been very poor at getting me moved in to one of their properties.
They have said on afew occasions they do not manage it the landlord does.
I have signed a tenancy agreement and the agency have singed on behalf of the landlord.
I have then told the agency i no longer wish to take the property and want all my money back.
In the mean time i have spoken to the landlord and have gone private with him on the same property which i am now living in.
I got the below from the agency today..
As there is an executed tenancy agreement in place, I need to arrange a Deed of Surrender to be signed by yourself and the Landlord to formally end the tenancy. I have tried to speak to the Landlord today and am waiting for him to return my call. I have also sent him an SMS. We would also need evidence that you have not moved in to the property and that the belongings that were put inside have now been removed. Once we have this in place and confirmed, we can then discuss the refund of move in monies paid.

Is the above legal surely i am of no obligationto prove anythingto them?

Regards
Richard

The agency owe you nothing. Your landlord might. This is an issue for your landlord to deal with.


(going behind people's backs is generally a bad move)