Can letting agents sign tenancy agreements for landlords

Can letting agents sign tenancy agreements for landlords

8:21 AM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago 19

Text Size

Being fairly new to the BTL market I wondered if anyone could answer a question that is troubling me please? Can letting agents sign tenancy agreements for landlords?

My wife and I purchased a property in Sheffield a few months ago, and as we live near the south coast handed it over to a letting agent for them to fully manage. To be fair they found us a tenant very quickly and we agreed on a short term six months tenancy agreement.

Now comes my problem, when we asked if they wanted to send down the tenancy agreement for us to sign, they stated that this was not necessary as they had signed it on our behalf. We also have a few other properties and in all other cases the letting agents have always called us in to there offices or forwarded the relevant paperwork on to us for signing.

My main concern is that I have never come across this before and also is this practice legal?

Keep up the good work, my wife and I find your site a real gold mine of very usefull information.

Many thanks

Paul


Share This Article


Comments

Ian Ringrose

17:52 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Hi Jamie,

I think you phone landlordaction and let them takeover! It must be an issue they deal with a lot.

Mark Crampton Smith

18:05 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Jamie, It would depend on your agreement. If it says.... "signed by the Landlord, then that is what the court would reasonably expect. If it says signed by the Landlord or his Agent, (and often there is a delete the relevant wording option) and assuming all else is clear, and you are mandated by your client to sign (can produce terms of business or Service Level Agreement to show it) The court would have to accept your signature.

Romain Garcin

18:12 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Jamie Moodie" at "19/01/2016 - 17:35":

Hi Jamie,

I think that the judge made a mistake. First because your agent can sign on your behalf, and second because as long as it is clear that you are the landlord and the tenant does not contest the relevant tenancy parameters it should not matter anyway (tenancy agreement does not have to be in writing or signed).

Ian Ringrose

19:11 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

But the court paperwork MUST be signed by the landlord not the agent. An agent can not start an eviction case on behalf of a landlord.

Jamie M

19:48 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

the court papers are signed by the landlord. The ast was incorrectly signed by the agent in the box (landlord) without "as his agent" being present

The tenant accepted the tenancy, signed it 8 years ago and was clear who the landlord is and who the agent is at the time of signing. They are playing on a technicality, (life long benefits claimants) The judge refused to discuss anything and said she is striking the claim out as the agent had signed where the landlord should have

Anyone know what happens next?

Rob Crawford

19:53 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Ian Ringrose is correct. If the landlord is not available, i.e. abroad, then a solicitor should be employed who is able sign the the court paper work. There is a specific note in the court rules saying that letting agents can’t sign.

Rob Crawford

20:14 PM, 19th January 2016, About 8 years ago

I agree they are playing on a technicality, far to clever for my liking! My AST's say, "signed on behalf or the landlord as authorised letting agents" for this reason. Your agent should have known this. As to what happens next - good question and probably only one that a solicitor experienced within the PRS can help you with.

Alan Merle

10:46 AM, 20th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Hey Paul

More often, letting agents have authority to sign on the behalf of landlord. So it is the responsibility of the landlord to read out all the papers before hiring a letting agent.

As you said your letting agent have signed on your behalf, then you can ask him to send the copy of papers to you.

And if any problem occurs then it is better to consult a real estate lawyer.

15:15 PM, 20th January 2016, About 8 years ago

I am an agent, Only with emailed written permission do I sign on behalf of my clients. Do not use agents who make your decisions for you.

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now