Estate Agent re-let a flat I was paying for without telling me!!

[5secondrule]

A couple of months ago, i bought a new house. I was, at that time, renting a flat and had just renewed the tenancy - as they wouldnt give me a rolling tenancy i had no choice but to renew as i was still at the start of the purchase process and this meant that i couldnt actually invoke the tenancy break clause til August, unless the landlord agreed otherwise.

He didnt agree. But he did say that i could surrender if they could find a new tenant in the meantime. So i moved out and I left the keys with the concierge.I made it clear in writing to the estate agent that they had to tell me when they were doing viewings and when i told them i left the keys i thought it was quite clear that it was for viewings only.

Theyve struggled to get viewings on it or to let it as it was overpriced and unfurnished and on 6 June i got a call from the letting agent saying that she thought it would benefit from a surface clean (as id vacated it was getting dusty) and some new photos. Ive been so busy i couldnt do the clean myself but i agreed that they could do the clean ONLY if i got it in writing that if i paid for this then nobody would try to charge me for an end of tenancy clean too, provided i dusted and hoovered before the check out day.

I heard nothing from them so this morning i decided to go to the flat and to clean it myself - save some cash etc. I was then going to email and say "please do new photos - its clean". When i got there I picked up the keys from the concierge and tried to get in, but SOMEONE WAS LIVING THERE! The chain was on the door!

Well i panicked! Ran down to the concierge and asked if anyone new had moved in. he said not that he knew. I then called the estate agent. After 30 mins i got someone to answer and they informed me that they's done a viewing and someone had moved in on Wednesday!.

Nobody told me!!

So theyve done viewings without permission, a full professional clean that they now want me to pay for and a check out inventory without giving me the opportunity to be present or to clean/remedy any issues beforehand. And not only that but i literally tried to enter some poor bloke's flat this morning! I think i could have been in danger if that chain hadn't been on - he might have attacked me if he thought i was an intruder surely?

They want me to pay for the clean on the basis that id agreed to the surface clean before (though i don't think i had, see above) and they said that the check out inventory person is independent so i have to lose deposit if there are any issues - even though i wasn't there or given the chance to remedy! Their view is that i made it clear i had vacated and my telling them to "get it let ASAP" was permission to do this. Nobody can tel me when they had planned to tell me! Which is bizarre as ive paid up til the end of the month so actually they also owe me 2 weeks' rent...

Am i being unreasonable or are they?

Omg that is shocking! I would get legal advice and see where you go from there! Surely while you are paying rent on a property it's yours and they shouldn't have relet it without informing you!

They are. They owe you the rent, if not the surface clean as you would presumably have had to do that at the end of your tenancy anyway.

Cheeky fuckers! I bet they were trying to see how long they could get away with taking rent from you while the new tenant was paying too.

Id have done the clean myself if id known this was going on... i only agreed to pay for a clean with their company if it was for the purpose of doing new photos AND the landlord agreed in writing that i wouldn't then be charged for an end of tenancy clean. I even have it in writing from the estate agent that they knew i intended to do the end of tenancy clean myself - mainly because of the check out inventory!

Eggsellent - my thoughts exactly!

They are totally in the wrong.
Cancel your rent/standing order/direct debit.
Ask for copies of the final meter readings that someone should have taken on check out.
Make sure council tax, utilities etc all know.
Find out where your deposit has been placed, should be protected.
Tell them given they have rented out the flat two weeks early whilst your rent overlaps that you expect the deposit back in full and the cleaning costs are to be deducted from the rent refund they owe you.

Just spoken to DH, he's a solicitor specialising in this area. He said it's an illegal eviction and you could get damages for it. Tell them it's an unlawful eviction and you want all fees to be paid back immediately or you will get an court injunction and they'll have to pay costs. 100% the court will find in your favour if it gets that far.

Absolutely appalling behaviour from your letting agent!

I am a landlady. I don't have intricate knowledge of the law. What I do know is they cannot enter the property let alone relet it without your knowledge and consent. I agree therefore that it is an unlawful act and would do what Pepper has said.

PHDPepper - thanks for that!!

You made a mistake in signing a new fixed term tenancy agreement by the way. At the end of the fixed term any tenancy agreement automatically converts to a periodic tenancy unless one party ends the tenancy through formal legal means. For the landlord that doesn't mean just serving notice. You could have just refused to sign the fixed term tenancy agreement and remained in situ paying rent under the original conditions of the fixed term agreement until you were ready to leave.

Letting agents are liars, charlatans and thieves and you should take them to the cleaners for this. Stop paying rent and don't agree any deposit deductions. Take it to the resolution centre and you will probably get your deposit back. Fuckers.

Listen to Pepper.

I hate letting agents.

You want to get the rent back as a minimum from the day before the new tenant moved in. I would even argue before. But to ascertain this, you would need legal advice, which probably wouldn't be worth it. They entered the property illegally for viewings and as such, my feeling would be they took back possession of the property on the date they first entered without your consent. No way can they do a check out without your knowledge.

Adalind I agree but some lls won't accept to go on periodic. Op said as much when she stated they wouldn't let her go on a rolling tenancy.

They don't have a choice though.
Assuming the tenant doesn't plan to stay longer than 4-6 months the tenant can just decline to sign another fixed term tenancy agreement. The periodic tenancy happens automatically (this is the law) and the landlord cannot end the tenancy unless they apply to court for an eviction notice.
No landlord would do that if the tenant is a)paying rent and b) intends to vacate within the next few months as applying to court is expensive, time consuming and not guaranteed to be successful.

Any tenant who wants to stay a couple of months past their AST end date whose landlord 'won't agree' to make the tenancy periodic should know this. It's not up to the landlord, although letting agents will lie to tenants and say it is.

The reason I didn't push for the periodic was because I was part way through buying - what if it had fallen through? If have burned my bridges with the landlord, he'd have started eviction proceedings and I would have had d to go and find a new short term tenancy while i tried to buy something!

Do you even know the landlord refused the periodic or was it the letting agents? Letting agents do not like periodic tenancies as they can't charge spurious fees for renewals.

Adilind - I'm not sure the periodic tenancy or lack thereof is actually relevant here...