My friend rents out her property. Initially - several years ago - she went through an estate agent, who found her a tenant. She signed a contract saying she has to pay them an introduction fee, for as long as the tenant lives in the property. She knows and likes the tenant, and wants to sign a private contract with them, as the estate agent performs no other service (no rent collection, management, etc.). However, the estate agent has told her that as long as the tenant still lives there, she must still pay the fee - which, incidentally seems quite high to me. It's more than what other friends pay for full management.
Is there any way out of this for her? She doesn't want to change tenant. She likes him. Is this common practice - seems a bit extreme to me?