Phone call from Lettings agents

greatcrested

davidmcn said:

They may also want to check the property is still occupied - I expect some tenants may have locked themselves down elsewhere.

Which could invalidate the landlord's property insurance (often has a maximum period of unoccupancy of 30, 45 or 60 days).

Yes, if they called your mobile you might lie - but most tenants would not. There's no reason to. So just as I'd see no nefarious reason behind the agent's call, I'd see no nefarious reason behind the tenant's response!

Morbier

davidmcn said:

davidmcn said:

They may also want to check the property is still occupied - I expect some tenants may have locked themselves down elsewhere.

They can only do that by visiting, surely?!!

Or by asking you the question while they were on the phone to you? You know how the conversation went, we don't.

As far as how the conversation went, no, they didn't ask if I'd abandoned the property.  I was just making the point that if I had, they still wouldn't know!  Mind you, they know we're still paying the rent, so it's probably a moot point. 

bap98189

There doesn't have to be an ulterior motive other than checking everything is OK. Maybe they are trying to get an indication of who will stop paying rent, or maybe they just have nothing else to do right now. They most likely have no viewings to do and they can't market new properties. 

Morbier

Mickey666 said

The way you're written that suggests they're doing it anyway, so why bother calling the landlords about it?

Not sure I understand you - I've no intention of calling my LL. 

mattyprice4004

I know it’s cool to hate lettings agents these days, but I can’t see anything you need to be worried about.  

Morbier

Mickey666 said:

No, not you, the agent.  If the agent is calling the tenants anyway, why are they also bothering to call the landlords?  They don't need permission to call a tenant do they?

Now you're really confusing me!  I didn't say they were calling the LLs.  Just the tenants, me being one of them. 

kinger101

Possibly, they're trying to give tenants and early opportunity to flag any potential issues around rent affordability.  If it was my property, I might want to know if my tenants were having financial difficulties at the earliest opportunity to better manage any cash flow issues.  

princeofpounds

Suspect steampowered is right - they are checking to see if they can flush any problems out before they become a bigger issue. It's good credit management practice - if someone is struggling, you can try to manage things so that payments are at least maximised. Sometimes when people have problems they just stop paying, taking the attitude that it doesn't make much difference if you default by a lot or a little. Sometimes, if you give people a bit of relief it can motivate them to continue paying the bulk of the rent to preserve that benefit. 

As cynical as you can be about LAs, I really don't think there is anything weird going on here, apart from the fact that they are putting some effort in!

ProDave

My concern they might drop something like "You do know you can demand a 3 month rent holiday" into the conversations.