Letting Agent

linwes

No wonder Landlords get a bad reputation I have a property fully managed by a letting agent the tenant reported an issue with the bathroom, a quote was obtained in 9th August by the agent to complete repairs.  Note on quotation stated possible further works may be needed.  Plumber raised an invoiced at the end of August stating they had attended the  property and completed repairs, letting agent paid Plumber from our account.   At the end of October the letting agent contacted me to say the plumber was now on site and an extra £400 was required to complete repairs.   I was then made aware that tenant had been without a shower to for two months, they are very unhappy so am I.

1. should the extra work be paid for by me given that the invoice stated work completed 
2. Is this appropriate management of my account and monies held?

it is the poor tenant who has suffered work has now been completed to their satisfaction and we are in dispute with the letting agent….not all Landlords are bad!

DE_612183

1. - well yes - who else do you think should pay?
2. - no, perhaps review your contract with the agent and use someone else

The tenant is in dispute with the agent so hopefully they won't blame the landlord...

FlorayG

Both invoices should state the work done - if at the end of the first there was more to be done that for some reason the plumber couldn't do at the time - perhaps needing parts? then that should be documented. I would be contacting the plumber directly to find out why this happened and I would definitely be sacking the agent. I've had agents manage my properties when I first became a landlord and was shocked at how slack they are; they let stuff go that I absolutely would want to get fixed ASAP. I manage them myself now

horsewithnoname

There are good and bad landlords, good and bad tenants and, as you now discovered, good and bad letting agents. 

You need to sort things out with the plumber, and you might want to change your agent!

theartfullodger

What does the contract or terms agreed with agent state who pays ?? Sadly I can't read it from here..

tacpot12

I would definitely take this up with the letting agents. If they think you are a soft touch, they will continue to take advantage. If they think you might move your business if they make another mistake, this is a good thing. 

theartfullodger

Follow THAT agent's complaints procedure, then if unhappy with the response you can go to the Letting agents redress scheme...

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/letting_agent_redress_schemes

linwes

Thank you for your replies…..just to clarify:

The plumber in question never attended the property to do any work…..they just invoiced letting agent saying they had attended and completed repairs and want paying.  Two months later after tenant chasing Letting agent,  plumber completed repairs.   Letting agent did not check work had been carried out with tenant or plumber.   I have raised a complaint and in the process of changing agents 
. Letting agent has agreed an early release from letting contract ….appearing to accept that they have breached our contract.

FlorayG

They should also then refund you your money that THEY paid out to a plumber who didn't do the work. Who pays for work that they haven't inspected? Not me, for sure. The people who do work on my properties have worked for me for several years and are very reliable; I still don't pay them until I've inspected the job and am happy with it.
Those agent are appallingly slack and I for one would be doing more than just getting out of the contract, I would want ot see that they are not going to give yet another decent landlord a bad name by their poor service

theartfullodger

Tragically in England to be a lettings agent requires no qualifications, no training, no criminal records check.  All the staff could legally be on early release crooks from their fraud and GBH spells.  Bonkers!

Other countries do this better.