Estate agents fees

altin_2

Hi.
We want to rent a property,being advertised by an estate agent.
They say that before anything they need to do a credit check,and they charge £100 + vat per person,so 2 of us(no charge for kids)about £230-NO REFUNDABLE.
They mention that have been some interest for the property,so people have seen it.
Will be easy money for them,say 3 families apply-only 1 will get that property.
Easy £450.
Am I thinking wrong?

Imp

Unfair Terms
5. - (1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.

(2) A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term.

(3) Notwithstanding that a specific term or certain aspects of it in a contract has been individually negotiated, these Regulations shall apply to the rest of a contract if an overall assessment of it indicates that it is a pre-formulated standard contract.

(4) It shall be for any seller or supplier who claims that a term was individually negotiated to show that it was.

(5) Schedule 2 to these Regulations contains an indicative and non-exhaustive list of the terms which may be regarded as unfair.

Effect of unfair term
8. - (1) An unfair term in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier shall not be binding on the consumer.

(2) The contract shall continue to bind the parties if it is capable of continuing in existence without the unfair term.

SCHEDULE 2Regulation 5(5)


INDICATIVE AND NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF TERMS WHICH MAY BE REGARDED AS UNFAIR

1. Terms which have the object or effect of-

• (a) excluding or limiting the legal liability of a seller or supplier in the event of the death of a consumer or personal injury to the latter resulting from an act or omission of that seller or supplier;
  
  (b) inappropriately excluding or limiting the legal rights of the consumer vis-à-vis the seller or supplier or another party in the event of total or partial non-performance or inadequate performance by the seller or supplier of any of the contractual obligations, including the option of offsetting a debt owed to the seller or supplier against any claim which the consumer may have against him;
  
  (c) making an agreement binding on the consumer whereas provision of services by the seller or supplier is subject to a condition whose realisation depends on his own will alone;
  
  (d) permitting the seller or supplier to retain sums paid by the consumer where the latter decides not to conclude or perform the contract, without providing for the consumer to receive compensation of an equivalent amount from the seller or supplier where the latter is the party cancelling the contract;
  
  (e) requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation;
  
  (f) authorising the seller or supplier to dissolve the contract on a discretionary basis where the same facility is not granted to the consumer, or permitting the seller or supplier to retain the sums paid for services not yet supplied by him where it is the seller or supplier himself who dissolves the contract;
  
  (g) enabling the seller or supplier to terminate a contract of indeterminate duration without reasonable notice except where there are serious grounds for doing so;
  
  (h) automatically extending a contract of fixed duration where the consumer does not indicate otherwise, when the deadline fixed for the consumer to express his desire not to extend the contract is unreasonably early;
  
  (i) irrevocably binding the consumer to terms with which he had no real opportunity of becoming acquainted before the conclusion of the contract;
  
  (j) enabling the seller or supplier to alter the terms of the contract unilaterally without a valid reason which is specified in the contract;
  
  (k) enabling the seller or supplier to alter unilaterally without a valid reason any characteristics of the product or service to be provided;
  
  (l) providing for the price of goods to be determined at the time of delivery or allowing a seller of goods or supplier of services to increase their price without in both cases giving the consumer the corresponding right to cancel the contract if the final price is too high in relation to the price agreed when the contract was concluded;
  
  (m) giving the seller or supplier the right to determine whether the goods or services supplied are in conformity with the contract, or giving him the exclusive right to interpret any term of the contract;
  
  (n) limiting the seller's or supplier's obligation to respect commitments undertaken by his agents or making his commitments subject to compliance with a particular formality;
  
  (o) obliging the consumer to fulfil all his obligations where the seller or supplier does not perform his;
  
  (p) giving the seller or supplier the possibility of transferring his rights and obligations under the contract, where this may serve to reduce the guarantees for the consumer, without the latter's agreement;
  
  (q) excluding or hindering the consumer's right to take legal action or exercise any other legal remedy, particularly by requiring the consumer to take disputes exclusively to arbitration not covered by legal provisions, unduly restricting the evidence available to him or imposing on him a burden of proof which, according to the applicable law, should lie with another party to the contract.

Sorry for the long quote. This comes from the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Reference to 5 (1) a non-returnable deposit is unfair if the supplier does not have a similar obligation, i.e. to refund you your deposit and an amount equal to it if they renege on the agreement.

Schedule 2 (c) also puts non-returnable deposits in question. You can have a credit search done and come back with a terrible score. AS LONG AS YOU HAVEN'T LIED the decision to let you rent the house is entirely down to the landlord/letting agent.

Schedule 2 (d) also puts non-returnable deposits in question.

BUT if you are paying them a fee to carry out a service (did they call it a deposit or something like admin costs/credit referencing costs) then you may have entered into a contract for them to carry out a credit search on you, without any agreement to rent the house to you. If this is the case, they will have carried out their service, and you will struggle to get anything back if they don't rent the house to you.

100 pounds seems a lot for a credit search, especially when you can get one for around 20 pounds. What you are probably paying for is a credit search and insurance against you failing to pay rent. Some companies offer this for around 100 pounds. If they have this, then it raises the question of whether they can chase you for unpaid rent as they have not suffered any loss. Bet the insurance company will go after you though.