UK Landlord Forum / Life

Our tenant departed suddenly, some months before the end of her contract with 6 months rent arrears.  A huge amount of rubbish (household waste, old furniture, toys etc) was left in the house and garden. There was also a significant amount of repair and redecoration required. We asked the Letting Agent to recover the Tenancy Deposit, to go towards making good the chaos left by the tenant. The agent eventually did this but made deductions; a "solicitors fee" for releasing the money, and the Agent's usual percentage commission. Is this reasonable? I should also say that we paid the Agent to vet the tenant before she moved in. It now transpires that she has a string of debts (Council tax, housing benefit etc) going back to at least 2012. Do we have any case against the agent for not checking for this? As inexperienced, accidental landlords we would be very grateful for any guidance other posters could offer us. Thanks in anticipation.

A Solicitor's Fee for releasing the money makes no sense whatsoever.

The Agent's percentage... do you mean their normal commission expected monthly from the rent, or some admin. commission / mark-up? If the former, well - not nice, but they'll want paying (whether rent received or not) and they're in control, so they're gonna look after their own interests and possession seems like it's nine tenths of the law here... annoying. If the latter, then no.

Vetting a Tenant can bring up things, it cannot. A Landlord should always do it of course, but the question I would have is whether you saw the formal referencing report from the referencing agency they used... or did they do something less comprehensive, like asking the prospective Tenant - "are you a good egg?" As the person handing over the very expensive asset to a stranger you need to be on the ball as much as possible with things like this. Don't ever fall into the trap of thinking that because you've employed an Agent they're on your side - they don't care. They really don't care one bit. You're just an income stream. They play the numbers.

If the agent is part of a larger chain, then I suggest that in the first instance you should complain to the managing director.  If it's an independent, complain to a partner.  Ask for the return of all the commission you paid them on the basis that they clearly neglected to carry out the credit check.  You certainly won't get that, but that's a good starting position for a goodwill payment from them.  If they won't make a payment, proceed to Trading Standards.

The vast majority of lettings agents are complete and utter wastes of oxygen and most experienced landlords have low opinions of them.  However, a competent lettings agent would have carried out a credit check on their prospect and it would have revealed their credit problems.  Personally, I do credit checks via Letsafe (it costs under £10) and I usually get the answers back in 48 hours.

Thanks to you both for your thoughts and helpful advice.

The Agents' fee is the normal commission they would apply to rent money.
We did not see the formal referencing report. Given that the Agent appears to be a pathological liar, I suspect that he did not do one. The Agent was independent when the tenant moved in, but has since become part of the Hunters group. I will certainly lodge a complaint on the grounds of the inadequate vetting and on the "solicitor's fee". I will also throw in the fact that inspections hadn't been carried out as evidenced by the fact that the tenant had redecorated and had kept a dog, both of which were in breach of the tenancy agreement.

I have had to claim the full deposit a few times to cover rent or damage,but no agent has ever deducted anything for themselves,let alone a solicitor (why?)  I would certainly not stand for this.

Quote from: Lemur on May 07, 2019, 01:55:39 PM
Our tenant departed suddenly, some months before the end of her contract with 6 months rent arrears.  A huge amount of rubbish (household waste, old furniture, toys etc) was left in the house and garden. There was also a significant amount of repair and redecoration required. We asked the Letting Agent to recover the Tenancy Deposit, to go towards making good the chaos left by the tenant. The agent eventually did this but made deductions; a "solicitors fee" for releasing the money, and the Agent's usual percentage commission. Is this reasonable? I should also say that we paid the Agent to vet the tenant before she moved in. It now transpires that she has a string of debts (Council tax, housing benefit etc) going back to at least 2012. Do we have any case against the agent for not checking for this? As inexperienced, accidental landlords we would be very grateful for any guidance other posters could offer us. Thanks in anticipation.

If you managed the deposit yourself there would be no solicitors' fee involved.   So why does the agent think that one is appropriate here?

They are either completely clueless about the procedures and processes of being an agent, or, they are being deceitful.   

You choose. 

Either way, it's not good.  I suggest you push back against that one.