Inheriting rental property, letting agent clauses?

sammyantha19

I have recently inherited a rental property (split 2 rentals). This has been managed by a letting agent and they have kept all monies until probate is complete. 

Since the death, and probate, one property has been vacant and I was told it could not be rented until probate was cleared. Vacant in November.  Probate cleared in May. 

Moreover, the agency has contacted on their choosing for payments such as certificates, monies and bills to be paid. But when I ask to review the tenancy agreement, I was told no, not until the probate. 

My query is, now probate is clear. 

1- does the rental income accumulated have to go to the solicitors? Or can this now be paired to me as the executor and owner stated in the will?
2- can I terminate my letting agent without fees… as they have not provided a good service, I was not morally responsible as the contract was signed by my deceased family member, and practically, I was not legally allowed to do anything regarding the contract (noting they would not share the contract with me)? 

Advice much appreciated as I feel really frustrated I have to pay any fees when they have not acted as a management agent-(I’ve had to address the tenants issues personally) and I never signed any contract. 

anselld

I am not convinced "nothing could be done until probate" argument but that is water under the bridge.
They can pay you funds due as you can show on the Probate certificate that you are the Executor.  It is your responsibility to handle that money in accordance with the Will, none of their business after they pay you.
Unfortunately the contract still stands with the Estate so as Executor you have the authority to cancel but it would be on the contract terms with and cancellation fees paid by the Estate.

theartfullodger

What does you solicitor say about this - particularly does the previous arrangement with letting agent carryon after sad death?  I thought it didn't.....

Check!

Which country? (Wales,..NI...?)

BarelySentientAI

theartfullodger said:

What does you solicitor say about this - particularly does the previous arrangement with letting agent carryon after sad death?  I thought it didn't.....

It would probably carry on from the deceased into their estate - but then not from the estate onto the beneficiary.

Although IANAL.

Keep_pedalling

In answer to your first question, it should be paid to whoever is named on the grant of probate. 

gwynlas

The contract was with the deceased and going forward the estate so they should not have waited on probate. Unless you have entered into a contract with them, implied if they are still collecting rent on your behalf then you can give them notice and either place with another letting agent or take on management yourself.. They have already lost you six months income. If you do decide to manage yourself be aware you will need to find and vet tenants, keep certification up to date collect rents and declare income for tax and respond in a timely manner for repairs and emergencies.

Bookworm105

legally from the date of the grant of probate being given your role as executor becomes one of bare trustee for the beneficiaries. As trustee there is no legal impediment preventing "the estate" from signing a letting agreement with new tenants since in reality that (effectively) means the beneficiary/(ies).

the LA had no right to withhold the money and legally it has to be paid to the estate. If you have an executor bank account then it goes there. If you don't, then the LA should pay it to wherever the executor instructs them to do so (in writing obviously)

the estate has the right to terminate the LA contract in accordance with the terms of that contract. Once probate is completed and the beneficiaries take over the property then the contract is null and void since they are not party to it.

This appears to be a classic case of a LA employee with no actual knowledge but a desire to use money for their own potential benefit. Make sure you claim any interest they have earned on retained funds.

sammyantha19

Thank you for all the comments. 

I’m in the England. They have just emailed for me to sign a new terms of business….. 
so I wonder if I am bound to the previous contract signed by my late relative? 

I really worry they will try and charge me an absurd end of contract fee as they are reputably a bad letting agent.

I feel I have grounds on their poor service from poor advice, with-hold of monies, also tried to pull a fast one on me declaring a shower was broken… when I called them up on it stating they already charged me £70+ for repair fees the previous month, it was quickly dismissed as no fault…. 

I’ve lost months in rental income on the rear property as they said they could not rent this out until probate despite my lawyers contacting them early on to inform them the death and that I was the executor. Furthermore they’ve missed countless letters from solicitors (as not received) and I have had to continually chase each party to close loop. 

I would love to ask for the interest on the sum they have withheld but I doubt they would. 

I am going to ask for the terms of contract to check. Let’s hope they provide it. 

pjs493

This is absolutely shocking. Now that you've got Probate, fire the letting agent and instruct them to transfer all funds they've been holding, plus interest, to you as the executor. My husband died last year leaving a rental property and I would have had choice words for a letting agent if they'd tried to pull something like that. Have you been able to speak to the tenant in the occupied property? The agent had no right to stop you from letting the vacant property and managing it as part of the income for the estate. I'd complain through the ombudsman as you've potentially got a compensation claim for the estate for potential lost rental income.

doodling

Hi,

Some random thoughts:

1. Assuming the will is valid then the executor became the legal owner of the estate (and in this case consequently the landlord and the agent's principal) from the moment of death.
2. The agent is entitled to wait until the executor has probate (which confirms that yes, the executor is actually the executor) before dealing with them but in that case I would question whether they are an agent at all during the period where they are refusing to deal with the executor and consequently whether they are entitled to any payment for that period.
3. The agent should be consistent in their belief as to whether the executor is the the executor or not, before probate - they can't decide that yes you are the executor when, for example a repair needs to be carried out, but no, you are not the executor when you try to give them instructions or want rent payments.
4. The agent can only act within the bounds of the contract so if they need the authority of the landlord to spend money on repairs then they can't do anything if they don't believe that the executor is the executor.
5. The odds are that the contract will need to terminated according to the provisions in it for termination (unless you can argue that the agent breached the contract sufficiently that it is in effect termination but I don't think that is the case) but there may be scope for a claim based on some of the above to offset any termination costs.

I am not a lawyer so all the above could be complete rubbish and some of it may only be useful if you adopted the right approach with the agent in your communications at the time - it is probably worth a discussion with your solicitor.

Bookworm105

doodling said:

Hi,

Some random thoughts:

1. Assuming the will is valid then the executor became the legal owner of the estate (and in this case consequently the landlord and the agent's principal) from the moment of death.

The estate remains legal owner until the executor transfers legal ownership into the names of the beneficiaries.
The executor is never the legal owner of the estate, the executor is merely the duly appointed administrator of the estate and their legal capacity is that of bare trustee on behalf of the estate until such time as the estate is distributed and thus extinguished.