Landlord changing rent after we've paid deposit and before m

watl1

Hi all

My partner and went to see a property 3 times that we were thinking of renting and met the landlord herself twice, as we were trying to convince her to let us have our cat there.

We did briefly mention that we could offer to increase the deposit on our first meeting if it helped, but on the second she agreed the cat could stay but said nothing about us having to increase the deposit.

Throughout the process, the agent had said the rent was £950pcm unfurnished and £1,050 furnished.

Anyway, we decided to put down a holding deposit with the landlord on Thursday, who then did the credit checks, and said we would get back to him about whether we wanted it furnished or not. Therefore, he frequently would say "We've still got to agree on the rent" - so I would assume he meant whether it would be the rent for furnished or the rent for unfurnished.

Now he has left a message on my phone saying the landlord wants £1,050pcm unfurnished!!! I'm really struggling with this, as not only is it above our budget, but we have to leave our current place Friday and will have nowhere to go!

I've checked and the agent is a member of ARLA, the Ombudsman and TDS.

Is the landlord/agent allowed to do this? If so, we'll have to pull out and begin flat hunting again and so will presumably lose our deposit.

Thanks

Louise

tinkerbell84

What have you signed?

clutton_2

it sounds like a lack of communication between the agent/LL/you - why not talk to the LL direct tomorrow ?

real1314

have you got anything in writing about the rent being £950 unfurnished / £1050 furnished?

Anything in writing re the deposit?

ruggedtoast

A very similar thing happened to my wife and I recently (you can search for the thread). Basically estate agents lie. They lie to you, they lie to the landlord, they'll lie to their bosses, colleagues and mothers in order to get a sale or commission.

In all probability the landlord had no idea the LA has misled you over the rent so if you can go back to see her in person do so. The fact the little weasel didnt write the monthly rent down on the deposit receipt you got probably indicates he / she knew he had misinformed you - now a week before you move in he's betting you'll just pony up the extra.

If I were you I would make a huge stink about it now and dont be bullied into moving in if you cant afford it. Otherwise its your word against theirs and a lesson learned to never, ever, trust what estate agents tell you.

brit1234

ruggedtoast wrote: »

never, ever, trust what estate agents tell you.

or evil buy to let landlords.

watl1

Thanks everyone for your replies.

No, nothing in writing and I haven't signed anything. I definitely should have asked him to confirm it in writing, but it didn't actually occur to me that he might change it after I paid the deposit. The deposit was paid over the phone so I've not even got a receipt as of yet...

Yeah, I reckon the agent withheld the information as he knows we need somewhere desperately, and probably thinks we'll pay the extra to avoid having to look for somewhere else.

Will call first thing tomorrow but wondered if I had any ammunition to hit him with! :mad:

watl1

I've been thinking about it a bit more...(can't sleep!!)

If, for example, it was the landlord who has now decided to put the rent up (and not the LA who had just told us a lower figure to get us to put a deposit down), would we be able to pull out and get our deposit and credit check fees back?

It seems unfair if we can't, as we only put the deposit down on the basis that it would be £950pcm. Ruggedtoast - you're absolutely right about not being bullied into paying the extra if we can't afford it, and we'll be stuffed for a deposit on a new place if we can't get our money back!

sealady

It sounds exactly what is probably going to be happening to us as well! BTW we also have to move out by Friday.

I saw a property on Tuesday, met the EA and the LL at the property. Before I even saw the property I asked the EA if it would be ok for cats and his very words were yep the LL is very nice and I am sure cats will not be a problem. I did say that I would be happy to pay an additional amount about £100 onto the deposit incase the cats do damage!

While we were at the property the EA said to the LL would it be problem about A CAT and he agreed one cat only - I said to EA but I have two cats. At the end of the viewing the EA said to the LL has agreed for the two cats. Nothing about an additonal deposit etc. We then had to pay a holding fee of £160 which is to draw up the contracts. No need for references as they have been done by someone else. We are expected to pay 6 weeks deposit plus 1st months rent! I asked why 6 weeks deposit and he said oh thats the norm now! He then said I have to come to a private agreement with the LL to pay £150 for the cats and I would then get that money back at the end if there was no damage. My thinking is that this is a con artist in the making. Unfortuantly if we were not desperate to find somewhere to live I would have pulled out of the deal because the EA is not registered with anyone and has been selling properties for a while but this is his first Let.

I have been assured that my deposit will be held in a seperate account, once it's been set up! As yet we have no paid the deposit nor the 1st months rent, and I am not going to pay it until we have a lease agreement in place.

I hope you manage to get it sorted out! Why do LL and EA have to be so difficult! When you become a EA do you stop being Human.

fc123

RE; Cats. I don't care if I'm flamed for this but we as novice renters declared cats on 1st letting...no problem.
2nd letting...extra deposit and we had to do a special carpet clean when leaving.
3rd; cats? What cats?

If they don't scratch up furniture / carpets and are Frontlined regularly...say nothing and hide them on an inspection day.
Sorry all LL's (and I am a LL too ...but not for much longer *hooray*)

Sorry about the problem..can't advise on the rent issue...hope you sort it.

sealady

fc123 wrote: »

RE; Cats. I don't care if I'm flamed for this but we as novice renters declared cats on 1st letting...no problem.
2nd letting...extra deposit and we had to do a special carpet clean when leaving.
3rd; cats? What cats?

If they don't scratch up furniture / carpets and are Frontlined regularly...say nothing and hide them on an inspection day.
Sorry all LL's (and I am a LL too ...but not for much longer *hooray*)

Sorry about the problem..can't advise on the rent issue...hope you sort it.

I wish it was that easy! Our hopefully new LL lives next door and so I did think about that but he would get wind of the cats eventually!