UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all,

After blood, sweat, tears and Covid, I have finally managed to remove our tenant from hell last week. The tenant had a criminal record yet passed the letting agent's vetting process, and over the last year we have been subjected to harassment, abuse, threats, you name it from our delightful tenant. So I wanted to know is this: would we have any grounds to seek compensation from the letting agent for failing to find us a decent tenant, when a simple google of his name would have highlighted issues? If so, does anyone know what sort of  solicitor/legal advisor to go for, I imagine I would just search on property lawyer, but am totally in the dark about where to start or whether it's even worth trying. Thanks in advance!

Trust me,you would be wasting your time and sending good money after bad.You could post honest comments on social media,trustpilot etc.if it helps relieve the anger.Hope you will be managing the property yourself now,if that is possible.I feel for you.

I am so very sorry you have to deal with this nightmare situation and must agree with Heavykarma that it is an absolute waste of time, money and effort to seek any kind of compensation with the letting agent. I have a couple of letting agents on my blacklist I would never ever use again if they were the last ones on the face of the Earth offering a free service and I was in between tenants lol. Please take time instead to focus on recovering from his ordeal and getting your property back on track and researching a different agent. Self management is a lot of work and it's not for everyone. I have done social media checks etc myself and it's staggering what can be unearthed - not sure if this was/is strictly legal but I sure as hell did not care, I'm looking out for myself and protecting my assets as far as I'm concerned.