Legal Advice Needed - Estate Agent

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its_noodles

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Nothing horsey but I really need some legal advice asap:

I have a rented property and it was managed by a Letting Agent for the last 9 years. The tenants moved out this Wed 31 July leaving a trail of destruction (several hundreds £ worth of sorting out). At the same time, I don't think the Letting Agent was doing its job properly so I decided to manage the property myself from 1 August 2013. The Letting Agent has done an End-of-Tenancy inspection and produced a list of items that need sorting out/repairing. The Agent passed the list to me (the Landlord) and says it's no longer their problem as they are no longer the managing agent.

I believe the Letting Agent is still responsible for chasing the previous tenants and to recover the repair costs. Does anyone know where I stand as a private landlord???

Your help and comments are much appreciated.
 
Who was holding the deposit - I guess the agent as you have to be licenced to hold them now - can the repairs be made from the deposit money? If so simply keep what is necessary to put right

Sadly I suspect if your contract with the letting agent ended on 31 July then they aren't responsible for doing anything on your behalf after that date. It's the tenants you have an ongoing issue with not the agent - not great timing unfortunately

just seen they have deposit - get them to give enough to you to cover repairs.
 
amymay said:
Sorry, just re-read it.nwhy dont they think they're responsible?
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All they said was that I now have the keys back and I should deal with the tenants directly. My point is that they were the Letting Agent during the Tenancy and they should sort out the mess...
 
Polos Mum said:
Who was holding the deposit - I guess the agent as you have to be licenced to hold them now - can the repairs be made from the deposit money? If so simply keep what is necessary to put right

Sadly I suspect if your contract with the letting agent ended on 31 July then they aren't responsible for doing anything on your behalf after that date. It's the tenants you have an ongoing issue with not the agent - not great timing unfortunately

just seen they have deposit - get them to give enough to you to cover repairs.
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The Letting Agent is still holding the tenants' deposit under one of the three official deposit schemes. I can't touch the deposit until BOTH the landlord and the tenants agree. If we don't agree, we have to take it to the Dispute Service...
 
Were the tenants at the check out - they should have been - and they should have signed the check out assessment to show they agreed with the assessment.
If not send a copy of the check out to the tenants with quotes for repairs and ask them to confirm they are happy to pay up.
The dispute process isn't complicated at all - couple of forms to fill in but beware it's very tenant friendly so expect to get less than you hope.
If the tenants make an offer that's close do consider taking it.

If the agents were on notice they may well have done a shoddy job of the check out and anything not in that the dispute service will ignore (sadly) no matter what other evidence you provide them

I was burned very badly by an agent that had a very cosy relationship with corporate tenants I wasn't aware of until I had a problem!!!
 
The deposit should be in a special fund.
I can't remember what's its called.
It can't be released until the inventory is done and land lord agrees.
So as long as it was rented properly then don't release their deposit, even it doesn't cover it all it will be a start and show you mean business.
 
Polos Mum said:
Were the tenants at the check out - they should have been - and they should have signed the check out assessment to show they agreed with the assessment.
If not send a copy of the check out to the tenants with quotes for repairs and ask them to confirm they are happy to pay up.
The dispute process isn't complicated at all - couple of forms to fill in but beware it's very tenant friendly so expect to get less than you hope.
If the tenants make an offer that's close do consider taking it.

If the agents were on notice they may well have done a shoddy job of the check out and anything not in that the dispute service will ignore (sadly) no matter what other evidence you provide them

I was burned very badly by an agent that had a very cosy relationship with corporate tenants I wasn't aware of until I had a problem!!!
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No, the tenants weren't there when the inspection was carried out by the Letting Agent. A copy of the issues has been sent and I believe they are trying to dispute it. As I said, the agent said it's no longer their problem and pass the bug back to me...not sure where I stand. Am I right to say that the worst case scenario would be taking the tenants to the Dispute Service (one of the deposit schemes holding the deposit)? Thanks for your advice, Polomum. It's much appreciated...
 
Tbh taking the tenant to the Dispute Service is probably your best bet if your letting agent is prepared to help you. It gives you the chance to put your case across & them their's, the person who makes the decision is completely impartial. We had to use them last year when our landlady refused to give our bond back (the house was left spotless & no damage was done), she even tried to claim £20 for a new sink plug from us....crazy. Anyway, we used the dispute service & it came down in our favour.
Good luck & hope you get it sorted.
 
TBH worst case is that dispute service find in your tenants favour and the deposit is returned to them in full.

You need to speak to tenants directly and find out what they are disputing/ why/ what grounds - if you can nicely negotiate with them you might get some sensible money, if they are being daft/ totally unreasonable hand all the details over to the dispute service and let them decide. Tenants have all the power in these situations unfortunately
 
Polos Mum said:
TBH worst case is that dispute service find in your tenants favour and the deposit is returned to them in full.

You need to speak to tenants directly and find out what they are disputing/ why/ what grounds - if you can nicely negotiate with them you might get some sensible money, if they are being daft/ totally unreasonable hand all the details over to the dispute service and let them decide. Tenants have all the power in these situations unfortunately
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I know. I already factored in the worst case scenario with no money from them at all. I think we are dealing with a very unreasonable person here. Like earlier this year, the lady kept on and on about water not hot enough, even the heating engineer said there was nothing wrong with it (just being old and tired). I eventually spent £2.5K for a new boiler!!! Having said that, a big part of it is investment rather than appeasement.
 
My tenants smoked a lot in the house for more than a year - all gloss work and ceilings were brown/yellow it was disgusting - they claimed they smoked on the patio and some must have blown in nd offered me £200 which I turned down as no where near enough to repaint the whole house.

Original check out report didn't mention the smoking - only by chance I called in after they had gone and found it, I got the agents over to the house to explain to me why they couldn't smell the smoke or see the yellow and they issued adendum to the check out because "the neighbours bark chippings masked the smell" ! Turns out the tenant was an employee of a major local employer and the agent had a contract for all their staff relocations! It also transpired that the dispute service doesn't read/ take any notice of adendums to the check out as they are not valid!!!!!! The agents must have know this - I did not otherwise I'd have got them to re-issue the original check out.

Made me so cross I sold the house - I won't be a landlord again.
 
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