High agency fees when terminating property management contract?
12:09 AM, 30th January 2024, 2 years ago
5
Hello, We signed a contract with an agency for them to manage our relationship with the tenants back in 2019. They oversaw tenant referencing, rent collection and contract.
Since 2020/21, the fixed term tenancy agreement ran out and ever since the agent was not able to get a new fixed contract signed by the tenants.
They currently live on a periodic monthly agreement, which obviously is not ideal for us.
We ended our contract with the agent in 2023 to take the property management in our own hands. However, the agent now is charging us 1.5 times the monthly rent, just for us to get out of the agreement and for them to pay back the deposit to the tenants.
We do know that some of the originally registered tenants have changed, meaning that the agent was not fulfilling his service of referencing.
The question is now: How can we avoid paying this very high fee to the estate agents, while receiving all information needed to start a new tenancy agreement by us?
Thank you,
Julia
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Member Since January 2020 - Comments: 559
9:43 AM, 30th January 2024, About 2 years ago
Julia
This sounds like a right muddle. Do you really know what has happened to your property?
Parking the issue of agent’s fees there seems to be confusion as to who is in the property. I am worried when you say “some of the originally registered tenants have changed”. How has your agent documented this? What control is being excerted by you, or the agent. If there are new tenants, how are they documented? Was there any compliance done?
My advice is that first of you you request that the agent gives you all documentation and chapter and verse as to what has gone on. You may need to go and sit down with them, but they ought to gvie you everything. THEY ARE YOUR AGENT!
As for exit fees, you will need to read the ToB you signed up to.
Member Since December 2023 - Comments: 1587
10:59 AM, 30th January 2024, About 2 years ago
Read your contract with the agent. Is this fee listed?
If not, or if you don’t mind losing, let them talk you to court.
If it’s listed in the contract, I’d pay it and move. Learn never to use agents again (or to read the contract before signing).
Member Since January 2016 - Comments: 473
11:46 AM, 30th January 2024, About 2 years ago
“the agent now is charging us 1.5 times the monthly rent, just for us to get out of the agreement and for them to pay back the deposit to the tenants.”
Are you saying you are holding the tenant deposit? If so, that is money that will have to go back to the tenant or be used to pay for damage but cannot be kept by you regardless. Or did the agent hold the deposit? In which case the agent shouldn’t be asking you, in effect, for a second deposit.
Member Since September 2023 - Comments: 335
4:30 PM, 31st January 2024, About 2 years ago
They should mtb holding any deposits there supposed to be in a regulated goverment account.
Member Since January 2024 - Comments: 1
10:07 PM, 31st January 2024, About 2 years ago
I am sorry to hear that, ypu should looking at the TOD. I’m however developing a tool Rentalynk that reunites tenants and landlords, addressing search challenges. As a landlord, you can grant access to a property manager or preferred agent while retaining oversight of all activities, including documents and evictions,