Dispute with estate agent on renewal fee

Landlord Discussion
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agents will always try to make more money out of landlords now that they cannot charge tenants for the service they provide to them

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Apologies for not been clear.

The estate agent never told me in writing or in words about renewal costs. This was never ever mentioned.

Besides the wording of the contract are vague in my opinion. The Foxton case has been very clear, that estate agents cannot charge commission if not mentioned in their literature.

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Tell the agent you wish to terminate the contract. There should be a clause about termination. He will want a fee for doing, probably equivalent to one year’s renewal fees.

If he isn’t willing to negotiate then I’d be inclined to let him go to court. Explain to the agent that you think that paying him a fee for renewals in this case is unfair. You could mention Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd [2009]

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er… but you have quoted the contract with the agent which explictly mentions a fee that will apply on the renewal of any contract so… ? :thinking:

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At the start, the agent sent me a literature of costs, and and email with commission rates. None of the literature and the email contained information about renewal fee. That’s my dispute is that the renewal fee is unfair as this was not highlighted (this is what the Foxton case is about too)

See below the extracts of the email that agent send me that contained various commission rates but did not included renewal fees.

If I pay them 12% each year on renewal fee, it would make it more expensive then Full Management fee. That does not make any economic sense.

“Letting Only 8.00% + VAT (Upfront fee)
Rent Collection 3.00% + VAT (Collected monthly)
Full Management 4.00% + VAT (Collected monthly)”

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Those fees must be cumulative i.e. full management at 4%+VAT must be in addition to letting only i.e. 12%+VAT total which is typical. If not, they’re the only agency in the country offering fees that low.

However, this info contradicts what you’ve said earlier in this thread that they charged you 5% initially and now 3%. So, as I’ve said before, all this is very unclear, and I’ve suggested you sit down in their office with the contract and get them to point out where these fees are stated.

I don’t see how your dispute would stand when the contract explicitly states that a renewal fee is payable. The only legally binding document is the contract, so I assume you simply didn’t read it when you signed it and therefore missed that while the agents didn’t mention renewal, the contract you committed to did.

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The question is not on how much fee they are charging me.

I got legal advice, and my case is very strong as the estate agent have unfair practice breaching consumer law as the renewal costs were not mentioned in their email nor in the literature that was given to me. This cause a significant imbalance in the rights of the consumer (ie: Landlord). The Foxton case was under the previous law I believe but the principle still holds.

Even though I have signed the T&Cs, the above hold true.

Thanks everyone. I got the answers to what I needed.

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Hi Vijay,
Your case is very interesting and smilar to what am experiencing right now.

I have posted my query to seek insight and support from anyone where possible.

Best wishes with the outcome!!

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29

Hi Vijay sorry to hear about your experience. Its clear you didnt understand what you were signing and didnt get legal advice before you signed.
Its clear to everyone reading your post you are paying an ongoing monthly royalty fee.

Lessons learns

  1. There is no such thing as a bargain tenant finders scheme.

  2. If you dont know what your sugning get advice.

  3. Dont believe anything verbally said only whats in writing.

  4. If you dont wish to pay it either get a lawyer or hope the tensnt doesnt stay long term to avoid next years fees

  5. Look at the cars the agents drive around in before signing porsches and other sports cars have to be paid for by your royalties

Take care and good luck lessons learnt by us all on here

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30

Unless you renew a contract with the tenant, which is signed by both parties that fee is not due. If you have a rolling contract, then I would ignore the invoice

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31

but if a fixed term of an AST then becomes an SPT, that’s a new contract by default so…

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