Outgoing tenant reference fee

chrishatton

We are leaving our current flat and moving into a new one. The current agency has asked for references from our previous landlord. As the previous agency was also the property manager, we asked the property manager for a reference. We've been told that in order to give a reference there will be a charge of £42. Is this legal? I understood from the Tenant Fees Act 2019 that agents and landlord were not allowed to charge for referencing, but is this only in relation to referencing an incoming tenant rather than an outgoing one?

need_an_answer

Presumably you signed your tenancy agreement for the property you are leaving before the tenant act of 2019 came into force?

If that's the case you can still be charged for any fees specified in that agreement until the end of may 2020.

Your new agency cant charge you but the agency you are leaving in those circumstances detailed above can still apply the charge.

Comms69

Also no obligation to provide a reference

chrishatton

need_an_answer wrote: »

Presumably you signed your tenancy agreement for the property you are leaving before the tenant act of 2019 came into force?

If that's the case you can still be charged for any fees specified in that agreement until the end of may 2020.

Your new agency cant charge you but the agency you are leaving in those circumstances detailed above can still apply the charge.

Yes tenancy was before 2019 Act came into force. If the charge isn't listed in the tenancy agreement would that still be the case? It seems ludicrous that they are charging £40 for what essentially will be a two line letter stating we paid rent on time...

Comms69

chrishatton wrote: »

Yes tenancy was before 2019 Act came into force. If the charge isn't listed in the tenancy agreement would that still be the case? It seems ludicrous that they are charging £40 for what essentially will be a two line letter stating we paid rent on time...

You can always provide (suitably redacted) bank statement to that effect

need_an_answer

I don't believe that many tenancy agreements will detail every charge,however you should/would have been made aware of a list of chargeable fees at or before the time you signed your tenancy agreement.
This could have been either paper written or details contained on the agents website.

The chances are that the agency detailed them on their website under fees payable and you should have familiarised yourself with those charges.

Yep £40 does seem a lot of money,I agree,but its not just letting agents who profited from this type of easy form filling...my parents in laws doctor recently charged them £50 for signing of a disabled badge application form.
If you want it...sometimes you need to pay for it.

chrishatton

Comms69 wrote: »

You can always provide (suitably redacted) bank statement to that effect

The new agent has asked for bank statements in addition to a reference. I get the feeling as a result of the new ban on charges, they've taken their referencing in house to save costs and are doing comprehensive due diligence.

We've got the landlord's details, so are going to go over the agent's head to try and get a reference from them instead, I suspect. I resent paying money to an agency that were entirely useless throughout the entirety of our tenancy, and only acted on things when continually prompted by us.

Comms69

chrishatton wrote: »

The new agent has asked for bank statements in addition to a reference. I get the feeling as a result of the new ban on charges, they've taken their referencing in house to save costs and are doing comprehensive due diligence.

We've got the landlord's details, so are going to go over the agent's head to try and get a reference from them instead, I suspect. I resent paying money to an agency that were entirely useless throughout the entirety of our tenancy, and only acted on things when continually prompted by us.

I wouldn't be providing unredacted statements to anyone, bank security questions are often related to your Direct Debits.

chrishatton

Comms69 wrote: »

I wouldn't be providing unredacted statements to anyone, bank security questions are often related to your Direct Debits.

Yes - I intend to redact them, only to show salary coming in, and rent going out. The agency has no other valid purpose for the statements.