£100 fee to register with landlord agency?

beebuzz168

Hope you guys can give me some advice on this one...

I've just recently moved into a flatshare, where I am effectively subletting from the main tenant. He, and I, want me to be put on the tenancy agreement which I'm sure would give us both more protection.

However, the landlord agency require £100 plus VAT to register me, apparently to cover credit checks and references. I haven't ever rented through an agency before so didn't know if this was standard procedure. But to me it seems like a lot of money to be paying out when I know I could obtain my own credit check for free and provide them with ready written references as required.

So, is this common place and I should pay up and lump it, or are they just trying to get more money out of me?

Thanks

ginvzt

Well, we just signed up to rent a flat and we had to pay £125 for the first applicant + £75 for the second person. So, as there are 2 of us, it makes £200 for the agency. That is for credit check, chasing up references, etc.

beebuzz168

Maybe it is average then - just seems an extra way for them to make a load of money for doing not a lot

ilovecheese

When we moved in to our flat it cost £235.00!! for a credit check and a fax to my work place and my husbans work place! I did write a letter asking to have a break-down of costs (twice!!!) and never received a reply - LA have a license to print money! It really p*****ses me off! We are supposed to have an inspection once every 3 months, on his last visit the man from the agency said I will just phone you next time as there is no point in coming round! Nice in a way that we can now be trusted to keep a clean tidy home and treat our flat with respect, but the other half of me thinks you are getting paid £95.00 (15%) of our rent every month for doing nothing! I am not a fan of letting agents! And as for £50.00 to re-issue a contract that is stored on a computer it just makes my blood boil!

lil_me

Oh that's cheap, our fees were nearly £400.

Phunky

Sadly this is what all agency do some come straight out and call it a charge others try and hide it.

The best one i had was paying £175 for me and my partner to have a credit check and then another £30 as a "Moving In" fee which they said covered them giving me the keys and changing bills over to our name... lol!

tbs624

So come on folks - get signed up to this : http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/lettingfees/
(petitiion created by another MSEer)

scorpio_princess

Yep, LA fees suck!

We all know that it doesn't cost £150 + to do an online credit check and write a couple of letters to check you have a job and a bank account, but somehow they get away with it. I guess someone has to pay for the overheads

As for whether they do anything for their money, i'm with whoever said her agents don't seem to do a lot. I've been in my flat for 18 months and never had an inspection - I wonder if the landlord knows this? I've never questioned this as i've just been getting on with my life (and to be fair they've always sent someone out fairly promptly if i've had a problem, albeit a 'handyman' and not a really bona fide professional - actually, come to think of it his fix it job on my loo means it now takes about a minute for the cistern to fill up again after flushing - hmm). However, I will mention these things if they try to steal my deposit at the end of next month when I move out... I just have a feeling, you know?

olly300

scorpio_princess wrote: »

Yep, LA fees suck!

We all know that it doesn't cost £150 + to do an online credit check and write a couple of letters to check you have a job and a bank account, but somehow they get away with it. I guess someone has to pay for the overheads

As for whether they do anything for their money, i'm with whoever said her agents don't seem to do a lot. I've been in my flat for 18 months and never had an inspection - I wonder if the landlord knows this? I've never questioned this as i've just been getting on with my life (and to be fair they've always sent someone out fairly promptly if i've had a problem, albeit a 'handyman' and not a really bona fide professional - actually, come to think of it his fix it job on my loo means it now takes about a minute for the cistern to fill up again after flushing - hmm). However, I will mention these things if they try to steal my deposit at the end of next month when I move out... I just have a feeling, you know?

I suggest you inform the landlord now in writing that you have never had the flat inspected while you lived there plus any other problems you have as I'm sure the landlord has been charged for it. If you can enclose pictures of the problems.

If you leave it until after you move out then you have less ammunition to use against the LA if and when they choose to steal your deposit. Plus if you don't have the landlord's address now is the time to go and find it as ultimately it is the landlord who is responsible for your deposit even though it's the LA who normally pockets it.

lynxptc

It's all money making isn't it for the estate agents.

Obviously estate agents have to make money, with that I don't have a problem, but they should be upfront and charge you for the service they provide, not overprice credit checks which cost hardly anything.

They use external companies for the checking anyway and I bet they don't pass on anywhere near as much as they charge.

scorpio_princess

olly300 wrote: »

I suggest you inform the landlord now in writing that you have never had the flat inspected while you lived there plus any other problems you have as I'm sure the landlord has been charged for it. If you can enclose pictures of the problems.

If you leave it until after you move out then you have less ammunition to use against the LA if and when they choose to steal your deposit. Plus if you don't have the landlord's address now is the time to go and find it as ultimately it is the landlord who is responsible for your deposit even though it's the LA who normally pockets it.

Well i've already given my one months notice (after they served me with 2 months notice as the LL is selling up - doh). I assume they got it as I sent it yesterday by first class recorded post. If they try to say they've inspected the place in since i've been here, I will simply ask them where the proof is! I took photos of absolutely everything (despite being a first time renter - I learned so much from this forum!) before I moved in, and was VERY honest when I completed the inventory, which I had to do by myself with no help at all from the LA - in fact, I have never been in this flat with any member of the LA. They never even showed me how to work the boiler, or showed me where the meters were etc etc. I guess I just stayed quiet because a)I do anything for an easy life, so was quite happy for them to leave me alone, b)I didn't want to be a 'whinging' tenant - I think i've been a pretty model tenant as i've never demanded anything from them, except a couple of call outs to fix a leak in the bathroom, and c)at the time I was just so grateful that I actually had somewhere to live (i'd had some pretty unpleasant run-ins with other LAs who categorically refused to let to me because I allegedly didn't earn enough, and also didn't like that fact that i'm disabled and dare to claim DLA, despite not being on any other benefits and working my butt off for a living - that wasn't enough for them) so needless to say, I didn't want to rock any boats.

Ah well, time will tell if i've been naive in thinking they've just let me get on with things safe in the assumption that they're a reputable company, they won't rip me off... if they do, you guys will be the first to hear about it!!

Sorry for the essay, i'm just feeling talkative tonight