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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this letting agent was bloody rude to me?

64 replies

ziggiestardust · 06/03/2014 13:33

I'm moving to a new area and have found the perfect house in the perfect location. The letting agent has been quite slow from the start, but when the tenancy agreement came though, I noticed the rent would be due on 27th of each month. We get paid on 30th, so I emailed the letting agent to politely ask them if we could move the payment date to the 30th of each month to coincide with when we get paid?

The reply was this:
Dear Mrs Ziggie,
The rental payment should be made on the 28th each month due to the bank
transaction system which it takes time, around 4 days, to send to the
landlord as well as to receive the rent from the tenant. To manage this, you
may need to save money to pay the rent on time, I suppose.
Regards,
Letting Agent

I am not asking for the earth here! I'm not asking for a rent reduction, and I've never missed a payment in my life.

AIBU to think that I am a bloody customer, paying an absolute fortune for this house and I deserve to be treated with respect, especially when I've been nothing but polite and courteous in our exchanges? I'm more than a little under pressure at the moment and someone speaking to me like I'm the scum under her shoe is fucking not on.

OP posts:
curiousgeorgie · 06/03/2014 13:35

YANBU...

I would email her straight back! This is not an uncommon thing to ask!!

spongebob13 · 06/03/2014 13:35

you are renting, that's the terms of your agreement. guess you just have to suck it up.

curiousgeorgie · 06/03/2014 13:38

Spongebob - seriously? Picking a mutually convenient rent payment date is usual. Surely Ziggie could just overpay the first month in order to fix the rent day she needs?

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 06/03/2014 13:39

Funny though, seeing as I text the landlord to ask, and he rang me to say it was fine. So she didn't even ask him then... Brilliant. Good job there.

I don't think it's unreasonable to want to have my direct debit for the rent come out at the same time as I get paid! It's only a 3 day shift. I've never had this issue before, and I really resent the tone of the last sentence.

OP posts:
redskyatnight · 06/03/2014 13:41

I don't think the reply was rude.
Inflexible yes.
But maybe the house owner has set the rules?

BTW you are not the letting agent's customer .. the person paying them their agency fee is!

spongebob13 · 06/03/2014 13:41

sorry my tone of post was off. didn't mean it to be so short. I don't rent (well not since my student days) and thought it was the norm for landlord to say rent is due on this date and if he/she is not willing to move on it then that's it. but it would be good relations to negotiate if there is room.

kernowal · 06/03/2014 13:42

It's a common request, but a lot will depend on when the landlord's own mortgage payments are due. For example, if their mortgage is due on 1st of each month, the managing agent must allow enough time for the funds to hit the landlord's account. Unfortunately, the landlord is the one who holds all the cards in this situation.

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 06/03/2014 13:44

Well I am their customer because I'm paying them referencing fees. High ones at that.

OP posts:
spongebob13 · 06/03/2014 13:45

I don't get though how you got that she was not respecting you and you were scum all from that email?!

bit of an over reaction I feel. yeah you are annoyed but either you save up or don't take the lease. as someone else pointed out the landlord also has bills and deadlines to meet and its his property. wouldn't that be one of the first questions you ask anyways .. when is rent due?

ISeeYouShiverWithAntici · 06/03/2014 13:46

If the landlord has said yes then if you reply to the letting agent to that effect, they should just do it, shouldn't they?

Charlesroi · 06/03/2014 13:46

I assume the rent should get paid on the first? You could do a direct transfer on the 30th(or payday, if sooner) which the LA would get the same day. What happens to it after that and/or your LAs problems with passing it to the landlord are their problem.
I do sometimes struggle to understand what the buggers do for their handsome fee.

spongebob13 · 06/03/2014 13:46

I am sure they are getting a bigger fee from the landlord.

eurochick · 06/03/2014 13:47

Spongebob, until the tenancy agreement is signed the things in it are negotiable. A rent payment date is a pretty standard thing to negotiate over.

The letting agent sounds like an idiot.

wowfudge · 06/03/2014 13:47

Well I am a landlord and would not want a letting agent to do that to a prospective tenant! Does the date the rent is paid depend on the date the tenancy starts? so if your tenancy commences on 28th of a month, why not suggest that the first month's payment is for a month and two days on 30th then on the 30th thereafter? I cannot imagine the landlord would have an issue with that as long as everyone is clear what period the payment actually covers.

The house I let has a mortgage on it. The tenancy started a few days after the mortgage payment left my account meaning the next mortgage payment was due before I'd had the rent in. I just phoned the mortgage company and changed my payment date to a few days after the rent was due from the tenant. That way if the tenant ever has any issues getting the rent paid on time, there are a few days to resolve any issues before the mortgage goes out.

ISeeYouShiverWithAntici · 06/03/2014 13:48

meant to say that I get that the letting agent was basically just saying save the rent from your salary on the 30th to the following 27th.

but that means finding an extra month up front to start it off, which may not be affordable for you.

For me, what made it rude reading was the "I suppose" bit on the end. It made the whole thing sound snide.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 06/03/2014 13:48

I don't think that email made you sound like scum on their shoe.

Is the 27th the date you are actually moving in? Maybe they just can't be arsed to sort the admin out - it should be ok though if the LL said it was.

spongebob13 · 06/03/2014 13:48

maybe the letting agent is doing her job and at the request of the landlord is knocking any negotiations of the rent due date on the head?!

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 06/03/2014 13:48

No, YABU.

You cannot usually have any standing order past the 28th of the month. Banks and financial systems don't really like it.

It's because February only has 28 days which buggers everything up.

Joysmum · 06/03/2014 13:49

When my tenants have wanted to shift the payment date I've worked out pro rata what the difference in days is and they paid that then started paying on the new payment date. I've also confirmed this in writing as it's obviously different to the tenancy agreement so needs to be documented.

Original poster
ziggiestardust · 06/03/2014 13:50

Nope, we aren't even moving in until the 1st.

Besides which, I messaged the ll and he said it was fine. So she didn't even bother asking him!

I think the last sentence is quite disrespectful.

OP posts:
Original poster
ziggiestardust · 06/03/2014 13:51

isee yes I agree. That's what got to me.

OP posts:
JRmumma · 06/03/2014 13:52

I get why you are annoyed. Telling you to 'save up' sounds like they think they are talking to a child.

I haven't dealt with a letting agent since my student days but i found then that they were generally unhelpful and miserable and liked to play god.

spongebob13 · 06/03/2014 13:52

when did you contact ll? after this email was sent?

wowfudge · 06/03/2014 13:53

ziggie your request is a frequently asked one so the agent is being a numpty - instead of just asking the landlord and doing a bit of work tailoring the AST documents. She sounds like she is experienced.

wowfudge · 06/03/2014 13:53

inexperienced!