Making us pay a renewal fee

csgohan4

MissSJL wrote: »

I’ve been told that our agreement is with the LA not the LL directly (they are guaranteeing the rent for the LL) We have a great relationship with our landlady and she has tried to break her contract with the LA look after us directly but they’ve told her she cannot keep the tenant (us) if she leaves them and we would have to leave if she cancelled with them.

nothing stopping you leaving for a few seconds and coming back again

Sign post your LL to info in G_M usually helpful post on getting rid of agents

System

csgohan4 wrote: »

nothing stopping you leaving for a few seconds and coming back again

Sign post your LL to info in G_M usually helpful post on getting rid of agents

I did say that 😂 but the reality is a bit extreme lol

SpiderLegs

csgohan4 wrote: »

nothing stopping you leaving for a few seconds and coming back again

It would be a pretty useless contract for the LA to be using if that was possible. One would expect them to have covered off something as basic as that.

onwards&upwards

MissSJL wrote: »

Not really helping but thanks for the input...?

Sadly true though.

The very first time they asked for this fee you could have said “no thanks we’ll let it go to a periodic tenancy’ and there wouldn’t have been a thing the agents could have done about it.

Sorry, at least you now know the agents are crooks.

Johnhowell

OP,
Also, it should be noted that because signing a renewal of pre-existing tenancy agreement the fees are still applicable until 1 June 2020. I suppose this is a one year transitional period before total ban on fees.

Colleague at work is going through the same situation (renewal date 23 June) and suggested not signing renewal but let it become a periodic tenancy. She will write to the Landlord in accordance with Agreement (via Agent) stating that they intend to remain in the property beyond the Fixed period and roll over to a Periodic Tenancy.

It is my understanding that the one change over existing Tenancy Terms is that you will only have to give one month's notice not 2 months if stated in Agreement. The landlord will still have to give you 2 months.

Good luck.

G_M

MissSJL wrote: »

I’ve been told that our agreement is with the LA not the LL directly (they are guaranteeing the rent for the LL) We have a great relationship with our landlady

You call her your landlady, but also say the letting agency is your LL.


These are contradictory statements.


Look at your tenancy agreement. What name is given at the top where it says



The Tenant ...........
The Landlord ...........


??


Now, it may be that the property owne is NOT your LL as she has granted a commercial tenancy to the agency, who have sub-let the property to you (so the agency is your LL), but this is rare.

Johnhowell

MissSJL wrote: »

I’ve been told that our agreement is with the LA not the LL directly (they are guaranteeing the rent for the LL) We have a great relationship with our landlady and she has tried to break her contract with the LA look after us directly but they’ve told her she cannot keep the tenant (us) if she leaves them and we would have to leave if she cancelled with them.

I suggest you read your tenancy agreement rather than relying in what "they" say! They can say anything but anything in writing has to be legally correct. Seems a strange situation to me...

With respect to me previous message (no.16) read you agreement for whom you have to write to - be it LL or LA (see also G_M's message). Also, as mentioned by others - the correspondence address and I suggest the acceptable form of communication has to be given in this contract.

Again, good luck and good reading.

System

According to the contract the agreement is with the LA, not the owner of the house who we know.

G_M

MissSJL wrote: »

I’ve been told that our agreement is with the LA not the LL directly (they are guaranteeing the rent for the LL) We have a great relationship with our landlady and she has tried to break her contract with the LA look after us directly but they’ve told her she cannot keep the tenant (us) if she leaves them and we would have to leave if she cancelled with them.

According to the contract the agreement is with the LA, not the owner of the house who we know.

if the agency is named on the tenancy agrreement as 'The Landlord', then
* you have no legal relationship with the owner of the property
* the owner has (almost certainly) let the property to the agent under a commercial tenancy agreement
* that agreement will have a fixed term which will be virtually impossible for the owner to alter (though without seeing it we cannot be sure)
* your (AST) tenancy is with the agent - chnges to it would have to be agreed by the agent (other than statutory changes-see earlier links)

System

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Sadly true though.

The very first time they asked for this fee you could have said “no thanks we’ll let it go to a periodic tenancy’ and there wouldn’t have been a thing the agents could have done about it.

Sorry, at least you now know the agents are crooks.

I had no idea that such a thing existed, we’ve been renters for ages and are aware these fees are pretty standard but just don’t understand why they are digging their heels in when the law quite clearly states these fees are banned! Just want to know if what they are saying is legit or not