To think this estate agent is a smug cock

[sevenkeystomysoul]

and to want his company to go under. Have just been informed by an up-himself agent that his company has an 'across the board' policy of no HB, even though I am working and have a guarantor (surely more security to a landlord than a salary that could disappear tomorrow in today's climate?). Gah, I f*cking HATE agents and landlords, and wouldn't even be moving again if my current landlord wasn't refusing to replace a boiler that is so ancient its parts are now obsolete and rewire the place (after being told by British Gas that it isn't earthed properly).

Yadnbu, as a profession they are below sewer rats.

I could tell some hilarious stories about the eejits who find tenants for my place. Eejits I tell you.

YABU to think that there might exist estate agents who aren't smug gits

YANBU, they are on par with used car salesmen!

They have to take a test in smug cockishness before they are given their shiny suit and clipboard

Didn't you know its a major module in their studies? Smug Cockishness and Smug Cockishness: Advanced.

YANBU we dont claim housing benefit but we are self employed the hoops we have had to jump through to get a house which is cheaper than the rent we pay now and have paid for over 3 years without ever missing or being late on rent are ridiculous!. We also had to find a guarantor who was both a home owner and who had an income of at least 30 times the rent - that was a struggle! we still dont know if we have the house apparently they are now doing the checks etc so it could still all be for nothing.

Anyone can be an estate agent with no training or qualifications at all. I could stick my board up tomorrow and start training. Hence it's a refuge for incompetent smug cocks. (Although I am sure any MNers who are agents or married to agents are highly professional experts.)

YANBU

We've had so many problems with letting agents. Eg. threatening calls. Demands to pay 6 months up front because of being on HB (because obviously being on HB means we have 6 months rent just lying around). Lying about a place having heating during the month when it snowed heavily. Being called scroungers when we asked for some form of heating.

The ea we are using a very nice. Perhaps having a slight Bridgwater accent prevents them from being smug to start with

Kaloki, what I don't get is why landlords are so biased against HB. Surely it's regular money being paid into my account, the same as a salary? And probably more 'secure' than a salary, given the state of the economy. I even have a guarantor FFS! Or do people still think that recipients of HB all come with 30 kids under two, 15 'dangeous' dogs and an inbred inability to maintain a house? I work part-time, am studying for a degree, and used to own my home until I lost my (professional i.e. one for which I needed actual qualifications, Mr Smug W*nker estate agent) job when I was pregnant with DD. I am sure there are many, many people in the same situation as me, how very shortsighted and ignorant of these landlords/agents to think having a full-time job is any indication that a person will be a decent tenant. Or is there some other reason for this prejudice against recipients of HB?

Yes, that on many occassions the landlord's mortgage company and insurance won't allow them to accept HB recipients as tenants and the authorities are not always on the ball with paying it. Etc etc.

According to my mate who is a landlord the problems started when local authorities started paying HB direct to the tenant instead of the landlord. This meant that some tenants failed to pass it on Obviously not all tenants do this but it caused sufficient hassle to make some landlords a bit more wary I guess.

Yes, that and if the HA have been paying directly to the landlord and the tenants fail to update the authorities about changes in circumstances etc then the council will go after the landlord for the money...even if the tenant has still been living in the property. There are all sorts of reasons, all of which tar perfectly good tenants like you OP with the same brush unfortunately, and landlords can't be too careful.

30 times the rent

that really doesn't work...does it
for a £500pcm flat that's £15,000 - am I right?

oh i suppose it could be but still!

What Orm said is correct. The last Govt decided it would be a good idea to pay HB to tenants to pass on to landlords. That immediately had the adverse effect of making HB tenants much less desirable whereas before many landlords were keen to have HB tenants because of the security.

I remember Caroline Flint announicng it and saying how it would give a HB tenant 'dignity'.

I have been a private tenant for 25 years and had many run ins with shiney suited 25 yr old letting agents. They have such a looking down their nose attitude as if 'home ownership' is the definition of probity.

Yeah right! Look at all the people defaulting on their mortgages.

That loaded 'what is your budget?' question laced with the unasked question 'are you really worthy of renting this house?'. They get so shirty though when I demand to know the background of the landlord to make sure he/she is still paying his/her mortgage. They never do that check though - because he/she is a 'homeowner'.

Makes me so mad!

I hate estate agents.
I have just had to move out of a flat because mine were so crap. There was a leak from the upstairs flat about 6 months ago which made our flat very very damp with black mould growing everywhere. Told them numerous times that i was pregnant and we couldn't let a baby sleep in a room with that much mould. They did bugger all, kept saying they were coming to fix it and never did! Baby is now 8 weeks old and they have never fixed the problem.

We contacted them to tell them that after the baby was born we would qualify for HB and the bloody fuss they made was unbelieveable. I am so so happy to be out of there.

Nobbers.

YANBU. My estate agent also told me that they require the first six months rent to be paid upfront if the tenant receives any kind of benefit. It was ridiculous and would have been impossible.

However, I knew that they were having trouble renting the house as they'd been trying for quite some time, so I told them that I had a guarantor and that they were welcome to call me back if the landlord changed his mind. Obviously, he did change his mind and I've now been living here for a year. I've had one inspection during this time (when my original year contract was coming to an end) and they told the landlord that the house was in a very good condition.

I even managed to convince them to replace two of the ground floor doors and remove an old, unnecessary and hideous electric fire from the living room before I moved in. Of course, the new doors were fitted very badly and I had to fill in the hole in the wall, but it now looks much, much better.

YABU to confused Letting Agents with Estate Agents.

I am letting agent running my own successful company and have ten years experience so I am the incompetent smug cock worse than a sewer rat that you all refer to.

Thanks for that.

It is not the Letting Agent that makes a blanket ban on no Housing Benefit. It is the mortgage company.

And yes it will be 30 times the salary but if there are two sharers it will be combined so it means on the calculation you give you would both only need to be on £7,500 each.

Since I am clearly the lowest form of life-form I will keep the rest of my advice to myself.

Stupid question, but if the HB is paid directly to you, how would they know if you were getting it?

YADNBU - if they have an across-the-board-policy then its not to do with Landlord's insurance (since that doesn't apply to all landlords, & I think that having a having a guarantor may cover that anyway) - it's pure prejudice.

I've also been requested an extra 3 months deposit for receiving HB as well - this when I am in work (ie only get a small amount of HB to top up a low paid job), perfect tenant's references & a guarantor. In that case I looked up the estate agent & found a list as long of your arm of people complaining about unfair charges & trying in vain to get their deposit money back.

The flat in question stayed on the market for months, I used to walk past it after I'd settled in to my lovely flat down the road .

As hard it may seem when you are looking for somewhere to live, just think yourself lucky that you've found out now that this agent is a twat. Tis very frustrating indeed, if the property is good, & you suspect that the landlord may be ok - but you are best out of it.

FWIW I found more of the bigger, more established agents to be much less prejudiced than (some) individual letting agents. If you have a guarantor then the big agents have sytems to deal with this, even if they are inflexible. Some smaller agents don't even understand what a guarantor is.