Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Our letting agent placed a sex offender in our property!!

69 replies

SunshineAndFizz · 14/05/2022 08:03

We have a rental property and use a letting agent to find new tenants when needed - they do all the viewings, contracts, background checks etc. and once a tentant is in, we manage the tenancy ourselves.

This time we had loads of interest, several people wanted to rent the property and the agency recommended one couple above the rest (good jobs, finances etc,) so that's who we went with.

A few weeks after they moved in (we still hadn't actually met them ourselves) we Googled their names - random impulse after we'd been chatting about them - and discovered the husband had recently plead guilty in court to a number of child offences!

We'd never have rented to someone like that had we known - from a personal perspective I just didn't want to have anything to do with dealing with someone like that - and from a landlord perspective I felt it could put the property at risk (i.e. if others found out could they properly be targeted with violence).

I feel daft for not doing any checks/searches myself but that's what we were paying the letting agency to do. I assumed criminal checks were done but turns out it's just credit checks.

I now want them to manage the property so I don't have to deal with this man, until we can get them to leave (next challenge) and I don't think it's fair that they charge me for this, since they recommended them to us.

Do you think they should cover the management fee? Do I have any rights to insist this? Any general advice?

OP posts:
Marcipex · 14/05/2022 09:21

End the tenancy asap.

NightmareSlashDelightful · 14/05/2022 09:31

Marcipex · 14/05/2022 09:21

End the tenancy asap.

On what grounds? If they passed the credit checks, are paying rent on time and aren’t trashing the place, OP doesn’t have many options. Certainly where I am (Scotland), landlords can only evict/end a tenancy under certain specific circumstances - selling the property, moving in themselves, turning it into a place of worship (lol, I know, but it’s a legit reason here), one or two others.

TizerorFizz · 14/05/2022 10:00

You can sell up OP.

This offence can lead to a custodial sentence. It could be a community order. However when they let your property it’s highly likely he didn’t have a criminal record. He’s not been sentenced yet!

TizerorFizz · 14/05/2022 10:01

Unless he’s got a string of previous offences of course.

bigdecisionstomake · 14/05/2022 10:01

You have no grounds to ask the agent to manage the property free of charge. Any error here is 100% yours. As pp have said it is up to you to understand what the letting agent's role is and it most certainly does not extend to criminal record checks. I echo comments above that if your understanding of this most basic of tenets is flawed then I would question your competency as a landlord and maybe this isn't the business for you.

If you do decide to bring the tenancy to an end then as per the government plans outlined in the recent queen's speech section 21 (no fault eviction) will be outlawed shortly so as is already the case in Scotland you will have no option to end the tenancy after that unless they break the terms of the tenancy or one of the other grounds of Section 8 applies. You will therefore need to do this as soon as you can but the earliest you will be able to end the tenancy is at the end of the initial fixed term.

ThatAnnoysMeToo · 14/05/2022 10:10

Just serve him notice, you don't need to give a reason, it's a section 21 I think.
If estate agents wants to know... Maybe you want it empty to sell, of course then later change your mind...

You have no grounds to get money from estate agent though.

TheLadyDIdGood · 14/05/2022 10:18

How long is the tenancy for? I would let him stay for the duration of the tenancy but not renew it after the term is over. This is probably the simplest and cost effective way to manage your colossal mistake.

TizerorFizz · 14/05/2022 10:41

@bigdecisionstomake

The implication is that the case has been to court (or is going to court) and the man has pleaded guilty. He’s not received a sentence yet - so the OP says. So I’m not sure how anyone could have known about this in advance of the letting. Court lists are in the public domain but no one realistically trawls through them when a potential tenant appears. He’s not come out of prison with a criminal record.

User0610134049 · 14/05/2022 10:44

I think you’re being a total drama llama about this.
They’re your tenants you don’t have to be friends or have anything to do with them.

it also doesn’t quite add up as others have said as presumably the checks covered employment and ability to pay. It was obviously not something he lost his job over. Not saying it’s right but everyone has to live somewhere so I think you should just put it out of your mind as as long as they’re good tenants just get on with it.

Mamette · 14/05/2022 10:46

Not the point but the management fees are probably tax-deductible anyway.

bigdecisionstomake · 14/05/2022 10:50

@TizerorFizz

I'm not sure what your point is? The error the OP has made is assuming that letting agents carry out criminal records check - that is why she is asking if she can get them to manage the property free of charge. A read of her contract or a basic google search would have shown that to be an incorrect assumption.

I haven't suggested anywhere that anyone should have known about the conviction/offence prior to the tenancy being offered - simply that it wasn't the agent's role to check and on that basis the OP can't expect to get their services for free.

ElenaSt · 14/05/2022 11:08

Check your house insurance in case there is some clause about not being covered when renting to people with criminal records.

worriedaboutmoney2022 · 14/05/2022 11:36

If you aren't happy serve them notice!

TizerorFizz · 14/05/2022 11:36

@bigdecisionstomake
I am actually agreeing with you. I don’t see how anyone could know about this. If someone has not had a sentence passed, they are virtually impossible to trace. Yes, of course the OP is wrong on two counts. He might not yet have a criminal record and even if he has, the agent can’t access the info.

Theunamedcat · 14/05/2022 11:41

Is it 12 months then goes on to a rolling month to month? Can you not give notice that you want it to end after 12 months? I get your feelings everyone has a right to live somewhere but your house may be targeted

Check your insurance is valid? I can't imagine them having a clause that exempts them from paying out if your home is targeted under these circumstances but you never know some get tricky

bigdecisionstomake · 14/05/2022 11:46

@TizerorFizz

Ah, I see, apologies, I wasn't clear what you were saying. Hopefully the OP manages to get a resolution to her satisfaction.

donchafeellikecrying · 14/05/2022 12:09

Pretty sure The law says that you can't discriminate due to expired convictions - I don't think you have to declare them after a certain time anyway?

Zeus44 · 14/05/2022 12:24

Why would a letting agent DBS someone? How are they interacting with children ?

Zeus44 · 14/05/2022 12:25

This is why society is screwed. Letting people who touch your children to roam society and enjoy the rights as those who are law abiding.

He should have been hung and then made to do the worst jobs in society.

Zeus44 · 14/05/2022 12:26

Should read… or made to do the worst jobs!

bedsidetab · 14/05/2022 12:31

We'd never have rented to someone like that had we known - from a personal perspective I just didn't want to have anything to do with dealing with someone like that - and from a landlord perspective I felt it could put the property at risk (i.e. if others found out could they properly be targeted with violence).

Are you more bothered by taking his money or the fact the home could be targeted?

Iced · 14/05/2022 12:31

Zeus44 · 14/05/2022 12:25

This is why society is screwed. Letting people who touch your children to roam society and enjoy the rights as those who are law abiding.

He should have been hung and then made to do the worst jobs in society.

Totally agree with this!

ThatAnnoysMeToo · 14/05/2022 15:47

Zeus44 · 14/05/2022 12:25

This is why society is screwed. Letting people who touch your children to roam society and enjoy the rights as those who are law abiding.

He should have been hung and then made to do the worst jobs in society.

Absolutely.
Although I think we mean different things be hung. The way I think they should be hung would mean they are unable to do any jobs after at all....

This sort of thing deserves a severe consequence, but apparently all its worth is a metaphorical slap on the wrist.... Scary as fuck.

User3568975431146 · 14/05/2022 15:55

As long as the rent is being paid, the property is looked after and the person is complying with the terms of their license or whatever, I'm not sure what the problem is.

RichardMarxisinnocent · 14/05/2022 22:05

Zeus44 · 14/05/2022 12:26

Should read… or made to do the worst jobs!

Doing the worst jobs in society doesn't stop them needing a home, where would they live if you think they shouldn't be allowed to rent somewhere?