Full Management agent wants to charge me to complete a deposit claim?

Full Management agent wants to charge me to complete a deposit claim?

15:22 PM, 14th February 2023, About A year ago 7

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The managing agent I have been using on a Full Management basis is dragging its feet in making a deposit claim.

It is now declaring that in order to present the statutory declaration there will be charges to be paid to them. This does not include any legal fees to have it witnessed although I have searched on the net and see that this can be done at the courts for free or for a small fee.

This agent has been lacking in its care of duty, has been negligent on so many levels and is now making it impossible for me to recover the deposit to cover the damage caused.

An amendment allowing dogs into the property was issued without my knowledge or consent at any time.

I have had a year of constant worry thanks to this agent and all I want is for the deposit claim to be finalised so I can move on. Any advice or contacts helpful in dealing with this much appreciated.

Joe


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Comments

Luke P

11:13 AM, 15th February 2023, About A year ago

No agent should really use the term 'full management', because this extends too broadly. Recovering a deposit *is* extra work and I can understand them wanting to charge. You could always deal with it yourself or simply write it off (it will only be a maximum of five weeks) and you can, as you want, move on.

Laura Delow

12:06 PM, 15th February 2023, About A year ago

I think I understand your question. Has the body that you registered the deposit with requested a claim be submitted by you because the tenant has disputed the amount of deposit being withheld? Or is it that the agent says there's damages at the end of the tenancy & to pull together a proposal to send to the tenant with a list of items damaged & amounts per item, the agent wants to charge you? If the former, there is work involved (how much are they proposing they charge?) but instead you could always pull this together yourself from the exit inspection report. But if the latter, this should form part of the exit inspection fee.(how much fee for exit checkout did you pay?). What do their T&C's state that you signed?

northern landlord

13:47 PM, 15th February 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Luke P at 15/02/2023 - 11:13
I am sad to say you are right. It seems it is a landlord’s lot is to continuously have to write things off and chalk them down to experience as it is very difficult to get any actual redress from anybody even if you manage to get it awarded.

Simon M

15:28 PM, 15th February 2023, About A year ago

You will have signed a contract with the agent before your property was first let - it may state what is or is not included in the standard fee. All contracts change over time - if you've been with them for several years the agent may be relying on amended terms you haven't agreed.

If it's not clear from the contract that there's an extra charge, then you can argue an extra charge doesn't apply - and as the expert party they had greater responsibility to ensure the charges were clear.

Always use email so there's an evidence trail. If you still feel aggrieved, ask for their Complaints procedure and submit a formal complaint. At this point they should be prepared to compromise or back down because they will know the next step is for you to refer it to the Property Ombudsman. This approach worked with my agent.

In the mean time, start looking for a better agent

Chris @ Possession Friend

15:44 PM, 15th February 2023, About A year ago

Get Advice on your dissatisfaction with the agent to consider making a complaint to their redress scheme.

Mo Ahmed

21:48 PM, 15th February 2023, About A year ago

Im sorry to hear this is happening with you. I went through a similar situation. In the end I just had to chin it the agent took almost 20% of the deposit amount that was being returned. One advice to all landlords whether you use an agent or not always protect the deposit yourself. That way you have full control over it. Further some agents dont even know how to serve the PI properly ultimately the landlord is responsible.

JoeB

9:39 AM, 16th February 2023, About A year ago

I live abroad and took on the agent on the full management basis with that in mind. This was the understanding. It is in the las 18 months that charges have been applied for absolutely everything. I had to insist on the exit inspection and put together from the report the things to claim myself. I then had to repeatedly ask them to please make the deposit claim. Knowing that they allowed dogs against my wishes and not conducted an inspection until 13 months into the tenancy it seems they are playing on the fact I am not in the UK. I will pay for them to complete the claim and have said so but I have also sent a formal letter of complaint. I plan to go as far as possible in getting redress for.

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