UK Landlord Forum / Life

Can anyone help with this situation.
My brother has rented his house out via an agent and pays them for full management.
Obviously the agent got the tenant in and they are happy in the property.

He would like to cut the agent out and manage it himself.
Can this be done if the agent got the tenant in in the first place or is the only way to get the agent out is to get the tenant out and start again.

Thanks in advance.

Has your brother actually read the contract that he signed with the agent?  The details of such a situation will be detailed within that contract.

I am sure he has read it, He hasnt said that there is anyway out of it. Just that he wants the agent out and just to carry on.

I just thought that someone might know an easier way.

As said, it depends on the terms of business your brother has signed with the Agent.

You might expect text in there along the lines of - "Fees are payable not only for the initial period of the tenancy, but also for the whole length of time that the Tenant introduced by us remains in occupation of the Property."

This is a great clause, for Agents.

Quote from: paulaa on February 17, 2015, 10:57:18 PM
I am sure he has read it, He hasnt said that there is anyway out of it. Just that he wants the agent out and just to carry on.

I just thought that someone might know an easier way.

No one can read the contract apart from your brother.  All the details will be in there.  I'm not sure what 'easier way' you want other than reading the contract.  The easiest way to get rid of the agent would be to phone them up and say you don't need them anymore, the annoying part of doing that is that they probably have a saving clause regarding this situation in the contract.  You can then ignore their letter, threats and calls and see if they put a breach of contract claim in.

Hi, usually agents will specify if the fees are due for the entire period the tenant had signed or just the year if the contract is yearly. It should be in the T&C signed by your brother when he engaged the agents to start marketing the property. The agents are sneaky and make you sign that upfront as they know you just want to get your property marketed and on their website and may not be aware that they will have you by the short and curlies!!...

One way that maybe, just maybe, your brother can get around it is if the tenancy contract has the option to be renewed on a yearly basis. This would likely mean that the agent fees paid by your brother were paid for the year. The tenant could then give notice through the agents when the year is up and your brother could then inform the agents that he is no longer renting the property. This would then officially rescind the contract with the agent and the agent/deposit agency will release the tenants deposit back to them. Your brother could then enter into a separate rental agreement directly with the tenants. However, your brother would need full cooperation from the tenants to do this and he might want to allow some flexibility (i.e a smaller deposit required from the tenants and no rental price increase as an incentive).

Good luck!