How do I sue a letting agent?

Suing the agent is relatievly straightforward using Money Claim on line.
Whether or not there is a case is a different matter.
Has your daughter gone through everything with the agent first? Suing should be the last resort, not the first thing you think of. What is the agent’s view of events?
Was there an ingoing inventory? If so, was this properly checked against the outgoing? In the first instance the tenant is responsible. However, if the agent failed to spot things then they may be liable.
What does the contract with the agent say? This has to be considered first of all to establish liability.
There’s a few hoops to jum through before the agent is sued.

A letting agent is the “servant” or supposedly of a landlord. But landlords are tied to a servants contract, unless renegotiated the Ts & Cs.

Read the contract carefully as to the obligations of the letting agent and responsibilities if the landlord.

Has a Term or Condition or Contract clause been breached? If yes then simple matter of breach of contract. Discuss, involve the letting agents association and mediate.

What is negligence? It’s not black and white. Did your daughter tell the letting agent IN WRITING that workmen were starting work on such and such a date? If not then maybe not negligence not informing her that the tenant asked for an extra week and charged for that week. It might have been courteous to let your daughter know but the agent is acting on her behalf and probably assumed she would like an additional weeks rent.

Did the checkout inventory compare similarly with the checkin inventory ie written doc and photos/videos? To have got the full deposit back is significant re the condition in itself.

Did the letting agent have a prospective tenant lined up to move in immediately? Had they done all the paperwork, taken a deposit/rent in advance?

Reply to the comment left by Graham Bowcock at 26/03/2024 – 11:37
Great advice. Thank you very much.

Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 26/03/2024 – 11:50
Great advice. Thank you very much.

It might be better to use their redress scheme, which is free and may achieve the same result.

Thanks for your advice. I’ll look into that.

Reply to the comment left by Marie Lee at 26/03/2024 – 15:33The Property Ombudsman has a complaint process which usually is the second stage after the Agents own complaint process:
1. Agents branch director
2. Agents corporate director
3. TPOS complaint
4. Legal Case
Obviously this is structured for redress to reduce the cost of resolution and only go to court in the last resort. That’s how courts want to work generally.
https://www.tpos.co.uk/

Reply to the comment left by PAUL BARTLETT at 27/03/2024 – 09:28
Thank you very much. Useful advice.

I sued a letting agent for stealing my tenants housing benefit money and then pretending to me that it hadn’t been received. I kept my own records, so I just submitted that information to the courts. They denied it and said that they would put in a defence. They never did. The evidence was blatently clear and obvious. So my tip – get your evidence together and present it clearly and logically.

I got a judgement. The two directors then jumped out of the company (they both resigned – husband and wife team) and basically left the limited company ‘directorless’… I didn’t even know you could do that. I sent the bailifs to their last known address – which apparently was the mums house… and they used a serviced office.

My only comfort…. the world is a safer place with their rogue, incompetent, inept, lying, cheating, stealing operators out of the game. I doubt I’m the only person they ripped off. Missed rent came to about £1,000… but I’m all about the principle of the matter.

Advice to all … keep your own records, and don’t assume agents are honest or are even any good at doing their own books…. some of them are creaming off the top, telling you there have been repairs, when there haven’t, saying the place hasn’t been let, when it has…