UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello people,
Does anyone have advice on what my rental agency can and can't legally do, ie installing a new sofa without my authority and charging me over a grand for it, when i had specifically said, WAIT til I have money to do it, and I will choose it, thank you very much.  also, between the washing machine breaking and me replacing it - like a week - the tenants charged my over 20 pounds to use a laundrette, having refused to measure the space which delayed the replacement - I was away at the time.... is that right?
I also need advice on tax exemption for being out of the country, and on getting out of my contract with them - i don't fully understand the small print, and changing to another, cheaper agency, who hopefully won't spend my (nonexistent due to expenses) rental income without my authorisation. Faaaaaar out I've had enough!

The devil is in the detail, what free reign spending does the agent have on your behalf?  It will be in your contract.  As for the £20 for cleaning, things break, you replaced them, I wouldn't be paying unless it specifically stated in the contract that under the circumstances you would.

If you find out you have signed a contract that says your Letting Agent can take any action on your behalf and then bill you, you need to get yourself out of this as soon as possible. Please check your contract as soon as possible. If you find there is no such term and condition in there then my approach would be rather simple - the Letting Agent cannot take any action on your behalf and bill you - whatever action that might be and whatever expense it might incur.

As I say, please check your contract as soon as you possibly can... let us know what term you think they might be relying on to do this.

Now, even if it turns out that you have, possibly unwittingly, signed a contract that gives away this right to the Letting Agent, you should immediately instruct them (again, it sounds like) that you will absolutely not pay for any future expenditure they incur on your behalf and any and all expenditure must be formally approved by you. I would do this in writing, and I would ensure they know that any approvals you provide will also be in writing, otherwise they will not count. Even the most stupid Letting Agent shouldn't continue incurring expense if they think that you are going to dig your heels in when it comes to paying them. Although they may feel secure in the fact that they can just hold onto any rental payments (I'd be concerned about that). These guys work for you - it is not the other way around.

Finally, once this is cleared-up, I would fire them. If you feel you must hire another Letting Agent, do that, but be more circumspect when reviewing their Ts and Cs.

Lastly... I'm intrigued as to what could have happened with a sofa (or what state the old one was in) for them to take the decision to buy a new one (it's not the "over £1,000" that really bothers me)... it's about whether the one there already completely falling apart? If so, and you admit it, then I'd ensure better quality stuff was in the property to reduce the risk of this happening again. It's not good for the Tenants either... they do deserve to not be sitting on total crap (if that's the case, of course - it might've been damaged beyond repair by some other incident, I don't know).

In a nut shell i would say YES you are being ripped of.

I am THINKING there is no clause in your AST with the agent that they have the authority to do so . WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION!.

Once you have confirmed that there is no clause in the AST and there terms and conditions, i would nail the agent.

Good luck

Yes, totally ripped off and being treated very badly IMO...but lesson learnt (the expensive way, as all good lessons are)

Make sure you are familiar with the AST paperwork, your agent should have advised you better and looked after you, as he/she will be losing your custom after this I assume?