Should I sue the letting agent or the referencing company?
I have recently evicted a tenant for failing to pay rent after a prolonged legal battle and am currently £12,000 out of pocket. The tenancy was arranged by a well known national letting agency franchise who subcontracted the referencing check to a well know national referencing company.
Many months too late we have discovered the checks were wholly inadequate and after complaining to the letting agent ultimately ended up at TPO. The TPO have responded agreeing that the checks were inadequate, but stating the letting agent are not liable as they employed a third party to conduct the checks and therefore fulfilled their duty.
I don’t agree as our contract is with the letting agent and if they chose to subcontract the work they should accept responsibility for the actions of their ‘subcontractor’. My only option is now legal action, but can I pursue the referencing agency when I don’t have a contractual arrangement with them? To complicate matters further the original letting agent have been bought out and I have no way of knowing if the new legal entity have accepted responsibility for the previous letting agent’s liabilities.
Legal minefield and could use some helpful advice please
Neil
Comments
Have Your Say
Every day, landlords who want to influence policy and share real-world experience add their voice here. Your perspective helps keep the debate balanced.
Not a member yet? Join In Seconds
Login with
Member Since October 2017 - Comments: 3
4:41 PM, 25th October 2017, About 9 years ago
Hi Neil, just signed up and saw this post so hope this is still of use to you.
With regard to the TPO, check out their own Code of Practice, section 10 which deals with referencing. From what you have said, the agent has not followed the Code correctly and wonder if there is any evidence that they complied with S.10g and provided you with any info before the tenancy was granted.
Member Since February 2016 - Comments: 977 - Articles: 1
4:33 PM, 1st November 2017, About 8 years ago
Just received that via the Property wire: https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/details-lettings-fees-ban-england-revealed-nine-10-tenants-back-move/
I wonder if that will cause the rent to increase? Possibly yes. But how far the increase can go? We are now forced to increase every year just to cover the taxman.