UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have a tenant who I have just found out bypassed a letting agent to deal with me directly rather than pay a letting agency any fees. The then prospective tenant was introduced to me by a local acquaintance who assured me that the person was of good character and personally known to them, etc, etc. Since then I have found out that the tenant had seen my property advertised at a local letting agency, contacted the local agent to set up a viewing and then decided to not proceed with them when the tenant realised that they had local friends who already knew me. I agreed to take the tenant on and they have since boasted to me about bypassing the agency. I now am worried if the local agency finds out what happened that I will be pursued for lost fees, etc.

By the way, I have had no issues with the letting agency in the past. They are reputable and charge relatively low fees (8%) compared to other agencies.

Does anyone know what the outcome could be if the letting agency find out they were bypassed by the tenant in this manner?

Thanks in advance!

I had a couple who tried this on.I had good relations with the agent,and did not think it was an ethical way to proceed.I contacted the agent,and the tenants still went ahead through the agent.
In theory,the agents could argue (not unreasonably) that you only got tenants through their efforts.I doubt if they would bother taking you to court,but they might not be keen to do business with you again.I think I would come clean,and make some gesture,even if just a box of cakes,and a card of apology.Agents are pretty tough,and some might say it serves them right to go into such a profession,but.....

Good advice...cheers! 

I'm a bit confused.  The agent must know that you found the tenant as you must have had to tell them that the place is let.  I guess it depends on what is in your contract with the agent.  They are usually pretty strict (for this type of reason).  Even if you had rented it to yourself then they would still claim that they lost money advertising it, contacting prospective property hunters etc.  You should really either let the property yourself (I prefer this) or let the agent do their job.  Best to keep it simple in case anything goes wrong later on.  Good luck.