Pictures

nrmm

We moved out of a property in April and the property has now been on and off both the rental and sale market. Agency keeps advertising it with pictures they took back when we were still renting (all of our belongings, artwork, furniture makes the house look better…). We don’t want to see our belongings online, can/shall we ask the agency to remove the pictures? 

Thanks in advance for the advice

user1977

You can of course ask, but you don't have a right to have them removed.

theartfullodger

And start going through their complaints process.

Sapindus

Seeing as you are not there any more, what is the risk? Must be less than when you were living there and someone might have burgled it.  The obvious answer from the EA is well if you don't want to see them, stop looking at the listing.

GDB2222

I sympathise with the op. It is an invasion of their privacy. That’s why they posted the question, and people responding ought to respect that. 

Having said that, I don’t think that there’s all that much that the op can do. A formal complaint to the EA, plus a threat to involve the ombudsman, might have enough nuisance value to get the photos taken down.

badger09

I appreciate that as OP was in rental, they presumably didn’t choose to have photos of their possessions posted online. However, anyone who has ever sold a property since ‘t’internet became a thing😊 risks the same. 

Prospective purchasers or even just ‘browsers’ can bookmark listings & the photos remain available long after the property changed hands. Forever??? Likewise, some RM listings show photos in the property sale history. 

I think the learning point is, don’t leave anything truly personal, or private, around when photos are taken. 

user1977

GDB2222 said:

Having said that, I don’t think that there’s all that much that the op can do. A formal complaint to the EA, plus a threat to involve the ombudsman, might have enough nuisance value to get the photos taken down.

Yes, I agree they're likely to regard the least hassle option is being to remove the photos - but if they don't I can't see anything in the code of practice which the ombudsman enforces.

dimbo61

Write a letter to the Estate agent/Lettings Agents and complain.
Tell them you will report them to the Estate agents redress scheme.
They won't want that even if the redress scheme say the EA/LA have No case to answer.
It's still a complaint to the ombudsman and might lead to a change in the rules.
What have you got to lose ?
Stamp and 2 sheets of A4 plus an envelope.

nrmm

dimbo61 said:

Write a letter to the Estate agent/Lettings Agents and complain.
Tell them you will report them to the Estate agents redress scheme.
They won't want that even if the redress scheme say the EA/LA have No case to answer.
It's still a complaint to the ombudsman and might lead to a change in the rules.
What have you got to lose ?
Stamp and 2 sheets of A4 plus an envelope.

Many thanks all for sharing your views. Sadly, that’s all I want to do - create some nuisance as we we were treated really unreasonably when we left. Thanks again.

TheJP

nrmm said:

dimbo61 said:

Write a letter to the Estate agent/Lettings Agents and complain.
Tell them you will report them to the Estate agents redress scheme.
They won't want that even if the redress scheme say the EA/LA have No case to answer.
It's still a complaint to the ombudsman and might lead to a change in the rules.
What have you got to lose ?
Stamp and 2 sheets of A4 plus an envelope.

Many thanks all for sharing your views. Sadly, that’s all I want to do - create some nuisance as we we were treated really unreasonably when we left. Thanks again.

Take the high road on this, move on. Unless you signed a form expressing no promotion and that you agreed to the photos being taken leaves you with no rights. More to life...

Spiderroo

badger09 said:

I appreciate that as OP was in rental, they presumably didn’t choose to have photos of their possessions posted online. However, anyone who has ever sold a property since ‘t’internet became a thing😊 risks the same. 

Prospective purchasers or even just ‘browsers’ can bookmark listings & the photos remain available long after the property changed hands. Forever??? Likewise, some RM listings show photos in the property sale history. 

I think the learning point is, don’t leave anything truly personal, or private, around when photos are taken. 

Tenants do have the right to choose not to have photos taken, they don’t have to allow the landlord access for anything sale related - no estate agent access to value or photograph the property internally, no viewings, etc. I think a lot of people don’t realise and feel pressured by the agents to cooperate. They can only access the property for essential repairs and checks, flogging the property from under you doesn’t fall in that category. 

OP - send a written complaint and threaten to go to the ombudsman, it’s a pain for them even if you won’t win. If you didn’t consent to the photos being taken  and/or them accessing your house they have a really big problem. If that’s the case make it very clear in the letter that was what happened and you know it goes against your rights as a tenant.