Hello there,
I’m just posting a message on here as I’ve recently finished the referencing process.
Upon paying the first month rent and deposit my landlord asked for admin fees for the referencing process. I have paid this as I was none of the wiser but after a few days ago my friend told me these kind of fees were banned in 2019. This was a landlord on this website, what would be my next step going forward?
Thanks,
Kieran
tell him /her this is illegal and you want the money back or you will take it further.
Ask for your money back and report to open rent.
Consider if you still want this person as your landlord.
Assuming you are still going to proceed get everything in writing going forward so you have a record in case of any more dishonest stunts pulled.
This may be out of ignorance rather than dishonesty. They may simply not be aware of change of law. Give them a chance to refund once you have politely pointed it out, you don’t need to be harsh at your first point of contact.
The others are being too harsh, LL needs opportunity to rectify.
I always wondered if as a landlord when a tenant needs a reference I could charge a fee ? As recently my accountant charged me £55 for a reference ?
I believe you can as when I got a request for a reference for a previous tenant from an agent there was a box asking if I wanted a fee.
I didn’t want one by the way!
I dont think you can charge a fee for a reference now as the definition of tenant in the TFA includes former tenants and prospective tenants as well as current tenants.
Not able to charge the tenant but it was lettings agency that asked if I wanted a fee.
Yes, you can still charge landlords/agents.
It’s the landlord or agent requesting the reference, not the tenant, so I would imagine yes.
I don’t think it’s a good idea, I’ve had agents gladly giving reference for no fee every time. A bit of co-op is good 
For goodness sake, how much effort does it take to fire off an email to the enquiring landlord saying,
‘Mr ABC was a tenant in my flat from 1st Dec 2000 till 20th May 2005. During that time he was a pleasant tenant, the rent was always paid on time, and the flat was left clean and with no damages. There have been no complaints from neighbours and I have no hesitation about recommending him as a tenant. ‘
No charge to a former tenant or to another landlord.
@Christine19 Not a lot. But business is about leverage. I think it’s not on.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.