Closing account with lettings agent: unreasonable documents request

domyue

Oh sorry, i couldn’t find the section that relates to termination of the contract. I’ve attached the lettings terms below. 

To clarify, the tenancy agreement finished at end of Jan ‘22. And it is not renewed. The lettings terms I signed (the one attached), does not have dates on it. Can it be assumed that the lettings terms are only binding in line with the tenancy agreement period? 

Thanks so much

eddddy

As others say, it looks the agent is worried that you're extending / renewing the tenancy on the sly - and avoiding paying the agent their fee.

They're asking you to provide the check-out inventory, new AST, council tax bill etc as evidence that you're not renewing. The contract doesn't require you to provide those docs, so it's up to you whether you choose to.


It's really just a case of how helpful you want to be to the agent and/or whether you want to 'stand firm' on a point of principle...

• If you supply those docs and/or some other evidence, hopefully they'll stop hassling you.
• If you don't supply the docs and/or other evidence, they might keep hassling you.

If the agent very strongly believes that you are fibbing and cheating them out of their fees, they might ultimately take you to court. I guess you'd win - but you'd have to deal with all the inconvenience etc.

newsgroupmonkey_

eddddy said:

As others say, it looks the agent is worried that you're extending / renewing the tenancy on the sly - and avoiding paying the agent their fee.

They're asking you to provide the check-out inventory, new AST, council tax bill etc as evidence that you're not renewing. The contract doesn't require you to provide those docs, so it's up to you whether you choose to.


It's really just a case of how helpful you want to be to the agent and/or whether you want to 'stand firm' on a point of principle...

• If you supply those docs and/or some other evidence, hopefully they'll stop hassling you.
• If you don't supply the docs and/or other evidence, they might keep hassling you.

If the agent very strongly believes that you are fibbing and cheating them out of their fees, they might ultimately take you to court. I guess you'd win - but you'd have to deal with all the inconvenience etc.

I think you missed the point. The OP is moving back into the house. They're doing the check-out themselves because it's not managed. There's no new AST so other than council tax bill, I'm not sure how they prove it.

My view would be to put in writing that they're moving back in and that they won't be providing those details. It's then up to the LA to prove otherwise (which they can't because they've got no evidence).

Hell, if the LA are that bothered, perhaps the LA should simply move back in then invite them round to see!

penners324

A check out should be doable plus a new council tax bill....

pretamang

have you actually written to the agency to cancel the contract?

It doesn't read to me as though their deal ends when the tenancy ends - they have a period of exclusivity at the and of the tenancy to either find a new tenant or handle the sale if you're putting it on the market.

Seems reasonable that they want to know your plans with the flat after the tenancy, and that they also want to see proof that a) the tenancy is over, and b) that you aren't re-letting or selling.

Perhaps the tone of their email was a bit aggressive, but not much you can do about that

eddddy

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

I think you missed the point. The OP is moving back into the house. They're doing the check-out themselves because it's not managed. There's no new AST so other than council tax bill, I'm not sure how they prove it.

My view would be to put in writing that they're moving back in and that they won't be providing those details. It's then up to the LA to prove otherwise (which they can't because they've got no evidence).

Hell, if the LA are that bothered, perhaps the LA should simply move back in then invite them round to see!

I think you might have missed the point I was making.

The OP can try to diffuse the 'argument' by offering the agent whatever relevant documents they have - so that the agent stops hassling them. (For example, a check-out document signed by the OP and the tenant, evidence that the property is the OP's new home address.)

Or the OP can perpetuate the 'argument' by refusing to give the agent any documentation - so that the agent might continue to hassle them.


You seem to be saying you would go for a confrontational approach, and not offering any documentation. That's fine.



 

domyue

Thanks for the comments

I have replied saying I can provide the council tax but not the other two docs because I dont have them. They then said they have to come and inspect the property. I’ll be staying there but also don’t want them to be in the same aggressive tone and have them hassle unreasonably. It’s personal property, but they may not adhere to common courtesy given their manner so far. 

theoretica

I don't see how they will be able to tell who is living in the property by coming round.

Their contract allows them to charge if you continue to rent the property to the same tenant among other things. The contract does not give them any rights to charge you merely because you have not proved to their satisfaction that you are not doing those things.

canaldumidi

If they were to sue, exactly what evidence would/could they produce to convince a judge they were owed the money.......? The ous would be firmly on them to prove that, not on the OP to prove the opposite.

domyue

They are just a very annoying company. They emailed back saying that they need to specify their internal processes to close the file. The lettings terms didnt at all specify what those processes are what extent they have to be ‘satisfied’. I definitely worry that they will come to ‘inspect’ (aka rummage) and be bullies and will not be courteous. Any advice on this aspect please? 

Thanks for your continued advice!