Agency wants us to pay to remove a sofa... over two weeks later.

YANDEX14

Unsure who is liable here. We vacated our rented flat on Feb 26th and the agents agreed to purchase a sofa from us "upon inspection" when they came to conduct an inventory on the 25th. We heard nothing and were expecting to receive the agreed fee any day now. Now, over two weeks later they're telling us they don't want to buy the sofa now and it is our responsibility to arrange for its removal. The deposit has already been returned to us in full from the landlord who didn't flag up any issues. Any idea who is in the right here? Surely it's too late for them to change their minds and tell us we have to move it. The new tenants have been there over two weeks as well.

stator

Well it would depend on the exact wording of your agreement.


If the agreement was conditional on their inspection of the sofa, then you have to go and collect it, or arrange for a charity shop to collect it.



They can't just charge you the fee for disposal, they have to give you the opportunity to collect the sofa.


If the agreement was not conditional, then they can't ask you to do anything. But I suspect it was conditional.

D_M_E

Have you tried selling it to the new tenants?

YANDEX14

Yes, the new tenants wanted the sofa but now appear to have changed their mind.

I appreciate that the agreement was conditional. But we weren't told that they didn't want it on the day of the inventory. We have heard nothing to the contrary for two weeks. Obviously if you don't remove furniture the landlord could deduct money from the deposit. But this wasn't done either. The deposit was returned in full.

If we refuse to remove the sofa, what can they do? Can they take us to court over it? etc.

Bluebonnie

British Heart Foundation might collect the sofa for nothing if (a) it’s in good condition, (b) has a fire label attached and (c) it’s close enough to one of their furniture shops.

Just get rid of it.

saajan_12

YANDEX14 wrote: »

Unsure who is liable here. We vacated our rented flat on Feb 26th and the agents agreed to purchase a sofa from us "upon inspection" when they came to conduct an inventory on the 25th. We heard nothing and were expecting to receive the agreed fee any day now. Now, over two weeks later they're telling us they don't want to buy the sofa now and it is our responsibility to arrange for its removal. The deposit has already been returned to us in full from the landlord who didn't flag up any issues. Any idea who is in the right here? Surely it's too late for them to change their minds and tell us we have to move it. The new tenants have been there over two weeks as well.

What do you want to happen: get rid of sofa at no cost or keep the sofa / its value?

There's two things at play:
1) Tenancy with the LL-
you have a responsibility to clear the property at the end of the tenancy. Now that its ended, they don't actually have to give you the option to collect, and can simply charge the cost of removal.

2) Agreement to sell sofa to agent / LL:
Was the idea that the agent would buy the sofa or were they acting on behalf of the LL? We need more information on exactly what was agreed re when the 'sofa inspection' would happen and what would happen if it passed or failed. On one hand, if you knew they may choose not to buy the sofa, then you should have been prepared to remove it later. On the other hand, if the agent specifically told you on behalf of the LL to leave the sofa there beyond the end of your tenancy then it could be unfair to charge for its removal later.

tealady

Check your L.A.. They may arrange collection for a small fee. .
Otherwisevsuggest put on frontage with a note saying "free, please take"

Wanderingpomm

If you’ve had your deposit back I would just ignore them.
The only thing they could do is take you to court and it’s not a solid case if they did

jennifernil

Freecycle it.

cooltt

YANDEX14 wrote: »

Unsure who is liable here. We vacated our rented flat on Feb 26th and the agents agreed to purchase a sofa from us "upon inspection" when they came to conduct an inventory on the 25th. We heard nothing and were expecting to receive the agreed fee any day now. Now, over two weeks later they're telling us they don't want to buy the sofa now and it is our responsibility to arrange for its removal. The deposit has already been returned to us in full from the landlord who didn't flag up any issues. Any idea who is in the right here? Surely it's too late for them to change their minds and tell us we have to move it. The new tenants have been there over two weeks as well.

Hello i've been in this situation (it was a single bed) and can advise accordingly.
No need to trouble yourself with some of the gobbledygook already posted here.

Once the inspection is completed with NO issues raised AND deposit returned, anything left in the property is not of any concern to you, Legal fact.


I can't remember exactly what the county court judge said but it was along the lines of, once all the contractual requirements had been discharged to the satisfaction of the LL/LA by way of final inspection, there is no legal entitlement to revisit the contract to rectify LL/LA oversights etc.


He said it with a little more legalese than that but i was off the hook

Norman_Castle

YANDEX14 wrote: »

Yes, the new tenants wanted the sofa but now appear to have changed their mind.

So it appears the agents were happy for the sofa to remain based on the new tenants wanting it. I would say the new tenants who accepted when they moved in are now responsible for it.


What price was agreed? Explain the offer wasn't based on a two week trial of the item.