Letting agent given house away

[samanthajonespr]

I really need some advice, we're angry and upset.
Currently renting a tiny 2 bed, now have 2 children and are searching for a 3 bed to rent while we get the rest of our deposit together. Found perfect place in our price range, viewed on 16th March, let letting agent know we wanted it, filled in relevant forms etc. Landlord chose us to take it so we did all our references and passed all that and paid a holding fee. Moving date was 29th April. Then lockdown comes into action. We are not able to move because I was self isolating and we didn't have access to the resources that we would need to move because of the new restrictions. We phone letting agent, they agree to move the moving date to May 29th provided the lockdown was over. All is well, we've given our notice to our landlady and have started packing everything up except essentials.

Today, husband gets phone call from letting agent after he sent an email to ask if all is still ok for 29th May and we are told that it was agreed with us if we didn't move in on 29th April that we would be breaking our agreement, the holding fee was void and the house had been put back on the market and is now currently being rented to someone else who has moved in this week (or so nosy relatives tell me). No such conversation took place and we are utterly gobsmacked and upset. What the actual fuck do we do now? Is the letting agent in the wrong?

Threaten them with their industry ombudsman if there's such a thing.

Time to take legal advice op

Yes, they are in the wrong if this is not what you agreed.

Write to them explaining setting out exactly what was agreed in relation to the 29th May move in date. Set out as many details as you can remember about the call: the individual at the agency who it was with if possible, the date and time of the call so far as you are able etc.

They modified your original contract orally. This is fine - contracts can be modified orally and this is binding. You acted to your detriment on the basis of this modification - by giving notice at your current place. In legal terms, acting to your detriment can act as 'consideration' - it gives a contract binding force.

They have breached their contract to you by giving the flat to someone else. They need to refund your deposit/fees paid. You can demand this on the basis that they have breached their contract to you.

Check if they are a member of any professional organisations of letting agents. If so I would threaten to report them if they do not refund any fees paid.

I'm sorry this happened to you. Can you get back in touch with your landlady about staying for longer?

Explain why they are wrong, the shit they have dropped you in and threaten bad publicity over social media. See if that gets them moving more quickly to resolve the problem or find you another suitable house.

Have you got a email stating the change of dates?
If it was just a phone call then it would be your word against theirs for the change of dates.

It sounds like the landlord wanted someone in quick for the rent and maybe their was a 2nd person waiting on the list and they have gone to them as they could move in quicker!

Not a nice thing to happen

“We phone letting agent, they agree to move the moving date to May 29th provided the lockdown was over.”

Unless you got this in writing, you have no leg to stand on. Verbal assurances mean nothing compared to a written contract with a 29 April start date.

Try www.arla.co.uk - not milk 😊 but the association of residential letting agents. They are the professional body.

Do you age your holding fee back? If not I’d suggest small claims court and ombudsman’s and maybe a small call to the local newspaper, and name and shame on local face book. But before I’d do that I ask for them to find a similar property with a heavily reduced admin fee.

They modified your original contract orally. This is fine - contracts can be modified orally and this is binding.

This is not true. Contracts cannot be modified verbally. Only in writing. And only by someone with the authority to do so. For example, an email from a receptionist at the letting agent- not binding.

Also when did the people move in? After the 29th or before?

Horses and stable doors, but never NEVER agree anything important with anyone (and certainly not letting agents) orally. You absolutely must do it by email, or at the very least confirm the details of the conversation by email and refuse to go any further with the transaction until they have emailed back to agree.

I would be cautious about naming and shaming on social media since you still need a letting agent to find you another house. You don’t want to be pegged as a troublesome tenant and be constantly “turned down” on every future rental application.

It’s shitty of them to have strung you along by lying, and that bit was wrong, they should have been honest with you.

But they are not wrong to have given the fiat to someone else considering you didn’t move when you were supposed to. Although lockdown happened, moving house was still allowed to go ahead, and you chose not to. Understandably, but still. The agent works for the landlord, not you, and therefore they’d have been in the wrong if they’d allowed their client to miss a months rent when there was someone else willing to move in sooner.

A verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

Do you have any evidence of the new may agreement? If not, I'm afraid you may be screwed :/

First see if current LL will allow you to rescind notice.

I think you are unlikely to achieve much with this complaint if TT has already moved in. (When exactly?).

It sounds like a misunderstanding. You said you couldn't move in, (at that point you would have normally risked losing your holding deposit).

They understood that you wanted to postpone and agreed. However you were not paying rent and the 29th of May was not a firm date so really they needed to keep looking for a TT.

The verbal agreement was " 29th May - as long as lockdown is over " - but that is informal and "lockdown being over" is not a black and white term. (When schools go back? When some restrictions lifted? When all restrictions lifted?). Did you call and confirm that you were definitely moving and now "had the resources" ? Or did they think it was still open? The LL had no rent for that month - you were not paying so could not expect him to hold an empty flat for you.

They should have called you at the point when they got the other offer and asked for rent up front from you but they would be mad to refuse a firm offer on the basis that you might move, (or might not because who knew for sure at that stage?)

I am sorry OP it is shit for you. I hope it works out in the next couple of months

Unless you got this in writing you have no leg to stand on

This is also my understanding as a ll. However, it is clear that the letting agent knew you had no intention of moving in as they did not correspond with you to agree a move in time / hand over. They also have no proof that they told you they wouldn’t accept the extension in the same way as you have no proof they agreed to it.

Under this circumstance, unfortunately all you can do is talk to your ll about staying longer and that your plans have now changed due to the coronavirus. They legally can’t force you to move during lockdown.

I would contact Arla and see if they have any advice. You need the latest development properly documented and probably need to write the agent a calm email stating there was no such agreement and your understanding was they had verbally agreed to 29th May. Therefore you are asking them in writing for a full refund of fees.

This is a big lesson learned and if you have to do this again, the best thing to do would have to work out when you could get the supplies and agree a moving date sooner than one month later both with your current and new ll. Your ll does have the discretion to release you from your contract on a different day than the renewal date.

Always follow up things like this in writing...‘just to confirm our conversation on xx/xx/xxxx...’. Did you get anything in writing? Do the record calls?

When did you have to conversation about not moving on April 29th?
Talk to your current landlord, I'm sure they would be agreeable to you staying on

If it isn’t in writing (text or email would even probably suffice) then sadly you’ll struggle to prove that they agreed to the change.

Where you paying any rent for this extended period or did you expect it to be held empty and without rent payment until lockdown is over?

Id ask for my admin fee back under exceptional circumstances and then move on to look for another property. Its not like they are going to turf the current paying tenant out to hold it empty/unpaid for until lockdown ends and you've gathered the resources up.

Did you actually sign a tenancy agreement or just fill out referencing paperwork?

@samanthajonespr Have they agreed to refund any payments? You might not have much to make a legal case on but you can threaten them with legal action and name and shame them on MN/social media: Too many landlords, estate agencies etc. get away because, people like you, who have been treated unfairly, are too scared to make a fuss and quietly comply.

Given the circumstances, my view is that the verbal agreement would hold weight and was entirely reasonable. Breach of contract and breach of industry standard. Throw the book at them.

Doesn't sound like there was actually a contract. What basis was the holding fee paid on? How long a period was the holding fee stated to cover?