UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all wondering if you could help,

4 guys went and viewed a student house in Canterbury, this house to be exact - http://www.reedsrains.co.uk/properties-for-rent/house-for-rent-st.-martins-close-canterbury-ct1-1-rent-id-78211_l.

Turns out one of the 4 guys admin fees didn't go through and it turned out he was lying to the other 3 and was no longer a student, so this is where I stepped in and paid the admin fee of £225 to secure the house, I visited the letting agency in the hope to secure a viewing instead they took my payment of £225 and after the payment was took I had to arrange a house viewing myself, also not to mention I was given no information on the property whatsoever and wasn't even handed a tenancy agreement, I was given the tenancy agreement after paying the admin fee.

My problem now is the admin fee which I now want back because we no longer want the house due to the tenancy agreement stating that full rent should be paid from July 2015 to June 2016 including bills, although some of the months we wouldn't even be there, most student houses offer half rent over summer months (July and August) and this one didn't offer that whatsoever and even meant we had to pay full bills for July, August and September when we wouldnt move in till late September.

My question is in summary, do we have any leg to stand on because surely a tenancy agreement should be handed to you before having to pay an admin fee because the tenancy could state stupid things, such as full rent for summer months, which would equate to around £910 each for July and August and we wouldn't even be living there.

Also do I have any leg to stand on on the basis that I didn't even view the house and they took an admin fee from me?

This is their site regarding the admin fee.

http://www.reedsrains.co.uk/tf1673

Any help is appreciated.

Paul

Hi Paulr23,

I notice your letting agent is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) this means they have signed up and agree to follow a set code of practice.

Details of this can be found at
http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/TPOE22-2%20Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20Residential%20Letting%20Agents%20-%20Effective%20from%201%20August%202014.pdf

Section 9e of the code reads, " You must provide the parties with a draft or specimen tenancy agreement prior to the
applicant becoming liable for fees or charges associated with the rental of the property
except where such opportunity is declined or where you hold an instruction to the
contrary. Where there is to be a guarantor for the applicant for the tenancy, this facility
must be extended to that person."

I would say your best course of action is to ask the agent for a copy their complaints procedure  (so you know who to write to) once you have followed the procedure (you may have to write one of two letters) if you are still unhappy you can opt to take it to the TPO.

Hope this helps!

Quote from: Rob722 on February 03, 2015, 09:12:20 AM
Hi Paulr23,

I notice your letting agent is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) this means they have signed up and agree to follow a set code of practice.

Details of this can be found at
http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/TPOE22-2%20Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20Residential%20Letting%20Agents%20-%20Effective%20from%201%20August%202014.pdf

Section 9e of the code reads, " You must provide the parties with a draft or specimen tenancy agreement prior to the
applicant becoming liable for fees or charges associated with the rental of the property
except where such opportunity is declined or where you hold an instruction to the
contrary. Where there is to be a guarantor for the applicant for the tenancy, this facility
must be extended to that person."

I would say your best course of action is to ask the agent for a copy their complaints procedure  (so you know who to write to) once you have followed the procedure (you may have to write one of two letters) if you are still unhappy you can opt to take it to the TPO.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

It mentions todo with guarantors. Does this mean they can take fees of me and not give them back because I did have to give guarantors, it's all quite confusing to me.

Thanks
Paul