Landlords - can letting agents issue a new tenancy agreement to the tenant without your knowledge or permission?

[DancingOnTheTable]

I'll try to keep this a simple as possible.

I own a house that is very far away (other end of the country, in England) we specifically wanted a long term tenant that would look after the house well so we were very involved with the process of selecting a tenant but left all the formalities to the estate agents as they would be handling the day to say running or the letting.

It's been several years and we have found out completely by accident that the tenant is no longer in the situation she was in before, she has moved a partner in and had another child, she has several dogs and cats and is running a business out of the house.
Some of it I don't mind about, but others I'm less happy about.

I contacted the EA to see if they knew about any of it and they confirmed that they did, and that they had given the tenant a new tenancy agreement which names her partner as a joint tenant and also mentions her being allowed the pets and to run her business in the house, the tenancy is also for substantially longer than the original one (which was initially supposed to with be renewed annually or go onto a rolling monthly contract)

I'm very unhappy. The EA have said they think I'm over reacting.

Can they really issue a new tenancy agreement, particularly to a new person with clauses that I did not approve?

The EA have said that I basically have to like it or lump it because I can't ask the tenant to leave until the TA is up.

You need to go back to the agreement you signed with the agents and see what you signed up to. If you think you agreed something different from that, do you have written evidence that details that?

The biggest issue to my mind is actually the pets because they can cause damage which can be costly to put right. Did the agents take additional deposit monies from the tenant or raise the rent? If not then you've every right to be angry that they may have left you in the position that whatever deposit monies there are could potentially not cover putting right damage to the property which is over and above reasonable wear and tear.

The contact I signed with them states that any changes to the TA or changes/work done to the property must be agreed to in writing by me.

However, they are arguing that as it's a completely new TA that clause does not apply.

I don't want to say what her job is but it's something that can cause significant additional wear and tear to the house and going by the photos on her Facebook business page it looks that she's had several things done to at least two rooms in the house to accommodate her business.

Have you signed anything which allows them to act or sign on your behalf? If not I don't think they can just issue a new TA as they are not the LL.

No additional deposit was taken to cover the pets and the rent has not increased since the second TA renewal, in the original 12 month TA it stated a 10% increase in rent each year, the first year this was waved and the second year it was negotiated down to 5%.
This new TA was signed after that, two years ago, there was no increase in rent and no annual increase was written into the TA.

If the letting agent is a member of a professional organisation then I would complain to them about it. I don't think they have the right to insert new clauses in to the tenancy agreement without your say so, but didn't you need to sign the agreements at the time as well?

So either they have changed the agreement without your permission if you did not sign a copy which would be unusual or they have set up a new TA without you signing a new contract with them. I don't think they can have it both ways there.

I've read through the entire contact I have with them, and I can't see anything that would give them the right to do this.

The contract basically says any decisions with regards to the property or tenancy agreement must be agreed to by me before any changes are made.
decisions can only be made without my knowledge or consent if I cannot be contacted within 48 hours for non-urgent matters or if it is an emergency, but even in emergences all efforts will be made to contact me before anything is done.

The rest of the contract basically goes over how they will completely deal with the tenant that they will handle rent collection and any day-to-day handling of the letting.

They have not made changes to the original TA, that one I did sign.
They have issued her and her partner with a completely new tenancy agreement that I had no knowledge of and did not sign, but they say that they were within their rights to do that as technically they tenant is the same person it's just a new tenancy agreement, so all of the original checks that I was happy with and agreed to still apply.

They have breached their contract with you and you will need to start formal complaint procedures. Whether the new tenancy is valid will need legal advice.

But... No inspections? When was the tenancy last renewed?

Write to them detailing how they have breached their contract with you. Go through point by point and state you are making a formal complaint.

You will need to exhaust their complaints procedure first before you can go to their professional body or elsewhere. Put them on the hook for all the things you haven't agreed to.

As far as signing a tenancy agreement goes, if they are you agent then it is normally okay for them to sign on your behalf, but given the breach of contract it is questionable whether they had authority to sign.

That's what I thought, but they are so insistent that it's standard and they are in the right that I'm genuinely struggling with it.

The original TA called for an inspection every 6 months, it was a 12 month TA which was renewed twice, when it came to its third renewal time that TA ended and a new TA was drawn up.
This one is for much longer and only calls for an annual inspection.

Agreements need to be signed by both the tenant and the landlord. They're not allowed to just change one side of them.

I would not have agreed to pets or a business such as hers being run in the house.
I don't mind the partner or the child.

The EA say that she has agreed to put right any damage or excessive wear and tear caused when she moves out.

That pretty much what they said 'it's standard for EAs to sign on behalf of the LL' so they don't see a problem with it.
It's the changes to the TA that I'm unhappy about.
Especially with it being such a long agreement.

I am a letting agent, there is no way we would do this. They have issued a legally binding agreement in your name without your permission. Really really bad practice. Not over reacting at all.

It is standard for agents to sign on behalf of landlords but only once it had been agreed by the landlord.

Letting agents don't usually recommend long TA's either tbh!

My point was what was reported after the inspections? The tenant didn't do all this overnight.

It is standard for letting agent to sign as your agent but only if you have agreed to the terms they are signing. If you were to pursue them for professional negligence the claim is for actual loss. So if you'd have missed out on rent increases or if the deposit is not big enough at the end if the tenancy to cover damage etc this will be your loss. Would you have required the property back for any reason? If so and you can't now have it until later this msy lead to financial loss too.

No that's what I mean, it was all agreed to by the EA in the new tenancy agreement that the drew up with her and her partner.
Permission for her to get pets, for him to be on the tenancy as a joint tenant and her running her business from the home, including making minor modifications necessary for the business.

They agreed to it all with her and wrote up a new TA and signed it on my behalf without telling me about any of it.

As far as I was aware for the last two years the original TA had been renewed.

The inspections have always been fine, the house was a little bit untidy but clean and well maintained.
I know she looks after the house, she loves it there and has repeatedly expressed her desire to stay long term, initially she wanted a longer TA but I said let's stick with 12 months and we will see how things go.
I would never have agreed to one as long as they have given her though.

I've sent an email to the manager of the EA saying that I wish to make a formal complaint.

Does anyone know the chances that I'll be able to get the TA voided?
Or is it likely I'm stuck until it ends?

Instruct him to evict the tenants ASAP. Then sack him.

You are stuck with it.
The agent was appointed by you and an agent's actions are on their clients behalf and their client is bound by them unless the agent "went on a frolic of their own" which this doesn't sound serious enough to qualify.
You can sue your agent, if you can prove damages and want to go through the courts.
But the courts are VERY unlikely to make your tenant homeless because of this.

No additional deposit was taken to cover the pets and the rent has not increased since the second TA renewal, in the original 12 month TA it stated a 10% increase in rent each year, the first year this was waved and the second year it was negotiated down to 5%
This new TA was signed after that, two years ago, there was no increase in rent and no annual increase was written into the TA

I think that the rent increases written in to TA are unreasonable actually, 10% is pretty outrageous, so in my opinion it was a good thing that was not enforced.

Are you set on getting the tenants out? They sound settled, pay their rent and want to stay long term.

When I was renting out our family home we overlooked a fair bit of damage because we would balance it out against void periods.

I can completely understand your frustration at the letting agents not discussing it with you though.

There is normally a clause that says that permission for pets should not be unreasonably withheld, they should have spoken to you.

I think you would be stuck with the new tenancy agreement until the fixed term expires. You could possibly argue it was done unlawfully without your permission but the tenant would argue they weren't aware of it and that it should stand. You'd end up in court probably with lots of costs.
If in reality you want to keep her as a tenant I would dis instruct the agent and either do it yourself or instruct a different agent. Then when the fixed term ends you could review the terms of the contract but if they agreed she could have a pet/ run a business and then you change the terms she may move out.
Read your contract, often agents have a clause that says you cannot dis instruct unless the tenant leaves or the agent has failed in their obligations. I think this would come under that.

If she has agreed to return the property to the same condition and you have the usual six week deposit, would that not be okay?

If the TA is legal the tenant can't be evicted until the TA ends.

Polyethyl you don't think having an entirely new TA with a tenant I'd never hear anything about, extending the term by a very long strech and giving permission for a business to be run, multiple pets to be owned and changes made to my home serious enough?

I don't even know if my insurance will cover her running a business there.

Presumably you now have a copy of the new TA? Is there a break clause?