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Original poster

Advice needed about a letting agent

16 replies

paintinglady · 06/06/2013 11:11

I would be grateful for some advice , we are attempting to let out our former family home . My husband has changed jobs and it comes with free accommodation .
We decided to use a letting agent , as this is the first time we have attempted anything like this .
Just over 4 weeks ago on the first set of viewing , a person made an application to the letting agency to rent our house . They took from them a non refundable deposit for credit checks etc.
At this point they removed the house details from their website and rightmove .
At first it looked like every was going well , they wouldnt / couldnt give me an idea when the potential tenant would like to move .
I have contacted the letting agent every week for an update as to how things are going . They finally admitted they hadnt even sent off the tenants details for the reference checks until three weeks after the viewing . I am getting really annoyed, and i feel i have no control over what is going on .
Meanwhile the house is empty . What can i say to them , to make them get a move on .
Many Thanks for getting this far .

OP posts:
HaveToWearHeels · 06/06/2013 11:25

Change agents, this is shocking. Should only take a week to get the paperwork completed. Tell them you are going to another agent.

specialsubject · 06/06/2013 11:33

ditto - change agents. If they are this crap at this stage, you won't get much service from them later.

Look for an agent that belongs to one of the national associations - no guarantee of service but slightly better odds.

Original poster
paintinglady · 06/06/2013 11:42

Thanks for the replies , they do belong to all the associations . Its very annoying because we had two people viewing on the same day .
The guy was very keen , wanted to move in by the 28th of may . The lady was viewing on behalf of her sister who is living in London , which without giving two may details is over 200 hundred miles away !
It is obviously the lady that paid the nonrefundable payment for the credit checks . They have taken that money without considering moving in dates and without consulting us .

Its like hitting your head against a brick wall , they havent responded to emails and i am fobbed off every time i ring .

OP posts:
HaveToWearHeels · 06/06/2013 12:02

I bet the people wanting the property are mightily pissed off to !
I would call the agents bluff and tell them you are moving agents, they won't want to loose 6 weeks finders fee.

Original poster
paintinglady · 06/06/2013 12:17

We havent paid a finders fee , but we have signed up to full management agreement which is 10% of the rent every month , the agency dont get a penny until the tenant pays rent . If we pull out of the agency we have to pay them £100 .
You would think they would be just as keen to get a tenant in as we are .
I think they think their job is done ,and are waiting for the tenant to sign on the dotted line . i am concerned that if the tenant changes their mind or the credit checks show anything , that we have to start all over again .

OP posts:
Nix01 · 06/06/2013 12:24

Similarly, from our side, we've been requesting banking details for 3 days now in order to deposit the holding fee and the agent is in no great hurry to confirm anything :(

Original poster
paintinglady · 06/06/2013 13:55

I thought using an agent would easier for a tenant and for us as landlords , but obviously not :(

OP posts:
HaveToWearHeels · 06/06/2013 14:04

Surely the agent won't let them sign until all the credit checks are done. Ours do all the background checks then if that is all OK then the Agreement is signed.
Like specialsubject has said up thread if they are crap now how crap are they going to be in future. What is the tenant reports a leak and the agent does nothing, you could end up with a huge bill.
Hope they sort it out for you soon I know having a property empty is a nail biting time.

Original poster
paintinglady · 06/06/2013 16:12

Thanks for all the advice , you are right they are crap , and its not a good sign at all .

OP posts:
Mutley77 · 07/06/2013 04:23

That sounds awful - our agents kept us updated at every stage about the progress of finding a tenant and at the end of the day it was our choice who the tenant was (more than one was interested). I did have to keep on top of them a bit, but when I asked specific questions about dates and timescales, they gave me the info and it was adhered to.

MusicalEndorphins · 07/06/2013 04:56

I would change to a new agent OP. Years ago, we wanted to rent a house for a year, to see if we really wanted to buy in this city, as we had never lived here at that time. We found a townhouse we liked, and applied for. We never heard back from them, although I left voice messages several times asking them to call. So we drove back to the same city and viewed another place, applied,very and the next day they called us to accept us. I told them since they never replied to any of our voice mails, we made other arrangements.

You snooze, you loose.

MusicalEndorphins · 07/06/2013 04:57

*ignore that random "very".

flow4 · 07/06/2013 05:34

It sounds like they are useless enough that it would be worth paying that £100 'penalty' fee to leave them, if you must.
However, does your contract with them specify anything about the service they will/should provide? I think it would be worth writing them a formal, official-sounding letter saying you are unhappy they have not done x, y and z, and following advice from MN you are now considering taking action against them for breach of contract, if they don't do a, b and c within a week...

mermaidbutmytailfelloff · 07/06/2013 05:44

You say they belong o "all the associations" so ask for a copy of their complaints handling procedure - and use it.

feetheart · 07/06/2013 05:53

Really, really beware of rubbish letting agents.

I found a great one initially - small one-man-band who I got on well with and had no problems until he had to retire on the grounds of ill health 6 months later. A complete shower took over and in the next 2 years I had to take them to court 3 times for non-payment of rent which they had happily taken from the tenants. I won each time but had to nearly get the company liquidated to get the money the third time. However I was very lucky as less than 2 months later they did a runner with everybody else's money Shock

That probably doesn't set your mind at rest but, as others have said, if they are this rubbish now run away as fast as you can and as quickly as you can.
Then post again on here to find out who is good in your local area - MN is a wealth of information.
Good luck.

Original poster
paintinglady · 07/06/2013 16:24

Thanks again for all the replies . I am going to write a formal letter to both my local office and their head office , because obviously the phone calls and the emails are getting me nowhere.
They are a very big operation with 13 offices in my local area ( i am in the north east ) . According to the contract they do have a formal complaints procedure , so i am going to ask for a copy of that too .
They are member of RICS and ARLA , if i don`t get some answers, i am prepared to pay the £100 to get out of the contract and start again with another agent .

I have no doubt that our property is in demand and we should be able to rent it quickly .

I am very grateful for the time everyone has spent on your replies , mn is font of knowledge .

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