To think lettings agents are cheeky fuckers banking on us not rocking the boat?

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

The house I've been renting the last couple of years is currently being advertised again as we're moving on. The agent came round last week to take new photos and do a floor plan, and out of nosiness I went to see how they'd come out on the website. Turns out they've taken some rather nice-looking (well, I would say that) photos, and advertised the house as 'furnished' with a nicely kept garden and a recently updated bathroom.

Except, most of the furniture is ours (the landlord provided a beat-up sofa, an ok table and some rather crappy Ikea side tables, and not much else). The nice garden will still look nice, but an awful lot of it is pot plants we're taking with us. And the 'updated' bathroom wasn't updated this side of the millennium, so far as we know.

I know it sounds as if some of this could be an innocent mistake, but it's clearly not because we told the agent when he took the photos that he'd need to know what furniture was ours and what wasn't, and we said it'd been advertised to us as part-furnished.

Round here, it is common to be told you can't see an inventory until you sign the tenancy agreement (shite, I know). I have a feeling the agents are hoping they can show the place round while we're out. We weren't ever going to let them do that, but now I've seen this advert, would it be very wrong to conscientiously tell all prospective tenants exactly what's what?

WhaleTasting, key elements of that test measure whether you can wear a whole jar of gel on your hair and the tightest suit possible without any sense of feeling ridiculous...
...oh, and what price you could get for your grandmother!

I like to treat others how I'd like to be treated. I'd tell all the prospective tenants if I were you.

But then I'm a nice LL myself. I recently redid a bathroom at a higher spec than I needed to, because I would have liked that if I was a tenant. No benefit to me. Some LL's are nice. We don't like letting agents any more than tenants do.

I would send a formal letter to the estate agents, asking for a reply and following up by an e-mail, to point out that you have found a mistake in the listing, and wanted to inform them so that they could adjust the listing accordingly.

Sate that you have been a tenant for x years and the bathroom has not been refurbished, and that the house is wrongly listed as furnished whereas it is part furnished - and attach a list of exactly what furniture it contains that belongs to the landlord. make it cl;ear that this is for their information, as they have clearly made a mistake which they will want to rectify.

Ask for a reply to acknowledge that they have received your letter and the list of furniture. Also make copies of the list of furniture and hand it to prospective tenants each time they visit.

I wrote to an estate agent listing a local property where I knew there was a legal reason it couldn't be sold and occupied. The listing was withdrawn.

Oh, I've been in the shower when they sent someone round before. Not for a viewing - some poor bastard who came to do a bit of maintenance (I forget what) and who'd been told we'd expect him. Poor bloke, he was much more upset by it than I was.

snew - I know some LLs are nice. Ours isn't awful - his main fault is that he's just like my dad in his certainty that a clapped-out appliance is really fine and just needs a mend. But to be fair to him, when he did finally admit defeat and replace something, he replaced it with good quality, not the cheapest model.

If the LL is reasonable then tell him what the letting agent is up to. I'd be horrified if my prospective tenants were being misled like that.

Letting agents seem to be bone idle and dishonest in my experience. We took on a long term let which would have been perfect while we were hunting for our home to buy/selling our home, it was 6 months and we were having to hunt for another let! Previous tenants had dumped their cat when they left, walls had felt tip marks on etc so we had to repaint, the kitchen counter had been burnt, never gave us a garage door key. The letting agents tried to keep money back to repair worktop and replac garage door lock as there was no key, all things we had brought to their attention when we took the place on.

We now own a couple of places and in one are having issues with allocated parking as some of the flats are rented out and letting agents are telling tenants park where you want it’s not allocated. Not the tenants faults but why should we have to keep sorting it out and asking them to not park in our space? It’s just pure laziness on behalf of agents not to find details out

I will do. We ought to see him soon as he's coming to do the garden in a bit.

doesn't the property misrepresentation thing apply to lettings ads too? Outrageous.

the government have finally noticed that estate agents need no qualifications and are totally unregulated. Maybe in another decade or so something will be done.

meanwhile here is the how to rent guide, which might help those in places where 'round here all agents are cowboys'. Knowledge is power.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-rent/how-to-rent-the-checklist-for-renting-in-england

But then I'm a nice LL myself. I recently redid a bathroom at a higher spec than I needed to, because I would have liked that if I was a tenant. No benefit to me. Some LL's are nice. We don't like letting agents any more than tenants do.

We've been in the same place for a few years now and were starting to get really fed up with the "landlord". It turns out after having him out for something unrelated that he is lovely and all of our issues were actually the estate agents.

I keep hoping, special.

no surpsied my dsis started renting a month ago agent said oh this garage is for your use turns out it wasnt-also an appliance that was apparently in good ciondition didnt work

theyre just lieing gits to get u to put downa deposit then they dont give a shit

sorry to derial how long is reasonabvle to wait for an appliance to be fixed

Have yet to meet a letting agent who isn't a total punk arse git

I've met one.. the whole office was fantastic in fact - competent, they did stuff when asked, they were brilliant. Then they were bought out by Countrywide.

I would feel guilty if my tenants had to wait longer than a week - I would try to get things arranged to be fixed the same week it happened if at all possible. I recently had a shower leak that took a little longer, but plumbing/boiler/whatever - within days should be possible - at least for first visit - sometimes getting a part might take a while.

I'd tell the LRD - I've had estate agents lie about all sorts of stuff, and always appreciated when a neighbour or the current resident would sidle over and tell me what the situation really is.

I also use a small branch where the whole team are excellent - and they've had to work, believe me.

Person asking about appliance fix times - reasonable is same as it would take a home owner. Has the landlord got things moving?

I can home once to a letting agent showing prospective tenants our car port which helpfully had a metal floor bolt to chain a motor cycle to as this tenant had one. As I parked up the Letting agent was most baffled when I told him the space for the flat he was showing was the one next to the car port with no cover and no way to secure a motorbike.

I emailed the agents to let them know to amend the details etc.

Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks later when I had my new downstairs neighbour asking if the car in the car port was mine and could I move it out of their car port - as listed in all their paperwork.

Caused no end of problems as the letting agent refused liability so had to get my LL to bring over the flat deeds.

To make it worse their letting agent was out letting agent.

Are they maybe expecting you to replace what furniture the landlord did leave there for your use? I'd check your inventory, if the crappy ikea stuff is on that, chances are you would need to replace it.

We're just leaving a rented property too, but I'm quite happy to let my current landlord do viewings whenever he wants. As long as he gives me a bit of notice to make sure it's tidy! I actually took the last week as annual leave to gut the house from top to bottom while he was on holiday, before he came and took pics to readvertise. Although he might not even need to now, as I've already found him a potential new tenant! Gutted to be leaving him actually, such a great landlord and a lovely man.

We have had terrible agent experiences, as both owners and renters. One in particular. i wont mention their name other then to say it rythmes with Faarts!!

Sold their agent service to as 'you can vet any potential tenants' before we sign contracts and 'we are the kind of agents who wont mind coming and letting your cat in if its locked out free of charge' for example.

Lo and behold they found us some tenants who wanted to move in 2 weeks early then we had asked (to the date we were due to get our keys to the new place). they told us that once they had an interested tenant they stop advertising the property even though these ones were not suitable (no vetting) and wanted to move in too early!!!!

bare in mind this is in a famous and busy university town with high high demand for rental housing (barely had to try to rent it in subsiquent years). so there would have been plenty of interest.

So we ended rushing around to move out and tidy up etc (i kept saying to OH just tell them no but he felt bad for the new tenants). moved out in such a hurry that we forgot to take final reading on the meters and so we asked the agent to nip round and take them for us and he said 'oh we don't do things like that' WTAF!!

They did fuck all, all year, the boiler had issues, condensation in bathroom etc and WE had to sort it out. didn't bother with inspections and the precious tenants they were nothing but trouble.

Needless to say the following year we fucked right off making it very clear to them why and did it ourselves for three years. i hear similar stories about other big agencies. they all seems to be run by 19 year olds. No offence to 19 year old but it doesnt speak well as it means there is no one with lots of experience at the branch and big turn over so no-one gives a fuck!

We now use a tiny new local company who are fab and run about 10 houses!!

You don't have to allow viewings whilst you are still a tenant.
Refuse to allow viewings and then anyone viewing once you have left will see exactly what they are (not) getting!

Is it bad that I'd put up a big laminated notice stating which furniture is the landlords and that your taking the pot plants

I know, rsl. As I said upthread, I don't mind allowing viewings.

gud - the IKEA furniture's still here! It's mostly in our understairs cupboard (which gives you some sense of how much of it there is). But we've no intention of replacing it - we'll just put it back out when we leave.

I think you are being unreasonable and a bit weird.

I rented furnished properties for years. I always asked what came with the house and what was the current tennant's. I would never have expected the photos not to show the tennants furniture (how??) or for the advert to give a detailed run down of what was and wasn't included (especially as such things are often negotiable).

I can promise you, no, it won't be 'negotiable'.

My furniture's mine.

And, as you see from the thread, you may have known to ask what was the current tenant's property - but not everyone does, and not all agents are truthful about it.

I would be tempted to get a friend to phone up the agency expressing an interest in the flat and ask them if the furniture in the photos is included - then you will know how honest they are!

Would be amusing, but possibly a little bit too stalkery.