My property is fully let and managed through a property management agent.
In the past there were a few boiler leak, bathroom leaks issues which were fixed by contractors hired by me after the letting agent failed to get qualified contractors in to repair.
The tenants now want to terminate the contract earlier than the original 2-year term after the shower screen in the bathroom fell off the wall which has been promptly fixed by contractor I hired again. They threatened to seek legal compensation if I did not allow them to terminate the contract, I asked them to speak to the letting agent. They said the agent asked them to speak to me the landlord, I insisted them to speak to the agent - given the useless agent has taken full letting commission for the entire term and now leaving me to pick up the mess. I have rest assured the tenants any problems in the future will be looked into promptly, however they are now playing this victim card of not feeling safe in my property just because of the recent shower screen falling off.
Go and see manager at agency and express concerns and remind then they are failing in their responsibilities.
Then reassure tenant face to face if possible.
Wait to see if any change.
Legal action by anyone is a hell of a lot of hassle.
I live abroad, the property management agent does not care the slightest. Many emails in the past have been sent to them to chase for repairs and always resulted in me having to look and hire contractors myself because of their delay or incompetent contractors hired charging a lot at my expense and not being able to repair a single thing. And I have been attending to repairs myself in an effort to rest assure the tenants.
The useless letting agent would not even cancel my management fee after I gave them notice - they would just deduct the fee from the rent they collected for me. It is so sad to see how these people in Lettings are acting so immorally. Itâs a shame because the good ones I used to work with have all left and leaving now a bunch of careless morons there .
I am looking to move away from them when current tenancy ends.
Never use an agent to collect rent They will tie you in for all the tenancy Only interested in their cut . When they âorganiseâ repairs they charge on top of the tradesmans cost as an extra fee. Find good guys yourself
I would let your tenant leave early, find a new agent, and start again. I wouldnât want to âtie a tenantâ into a property they did not want to live in.
The shower screen was intact, it only fell off when the tenant was in the bathroom at the time. The plumber said the leak through the shower screen and the weight of it caused it to fall off eventually. The tenant said she was bruised.
The letting agent has already taken the full commission off me , and I doubt they would give the money back to me if the tenants leave early, as I said the letting agent now only has a bunch of immoral morons who could not care less, they already hold off money from me by overcharging me for a heater and would not refund me even after them admitting they have overcharged me.
Also if the tenants leave mid way , as a landlord I will have to pay check in report, check out report, professional cleaning, new tenancy contract fee to the useless letting agent again. Also it would not be possible to find a tenant for just a year tenancy as I only want the current tenancy ends and move away from current idiotic letting agent which sadly is a big high street agent also.The tenants would probably not agree to pay for the above fees also.
I have fitted dozens of screens Those with a hinge top and bottom are the worst to fit . The ones with a long channel down the wall side are the best ones ,as the hinge is more secure . I never use the screws provided ,I use my own longer ones
I think you are best off allowing the tenants an early termination of the tenancy. The hassle of having an useless agent and an uncooperative tenant might be unbearable - especially as you are abroad.
Personally, I would rather sell up than pay an agent if it came to that.
Agents can be a total waste of time, they just want their percentage and are rarely interested in earning their cut.
Tenants are being unreasonable, especially if you attend to any issues asap. Let them go to a Solicitor, they donât have a leg to stand on and it will end up costing them a lot for nothing. Do not let the tenants intimidate you. Things do go wrong, sometimes more often than not, but as an attentive LL, you should not be faulted.
You can say no to the tenants if you wish provided you have evidence that no-one was hurt. However, its not wise to try to force reluctant tenants to remain at your property.
I am not trying to force the tenants to stay. There is still 15 months left in their term and I want to move away from the current letting agent, that means they can only find someone to fill the term left in their current tenancy which might be difficult. I told them to speak to the letting agent to follow any formal terms and conditions required for their request and guide both the tenants and me the landlord through steps required . I donât want to pick up all the mess and leave the careless agent doing nothing given they have taken all the money for a service they have tragically failed on all fronts.
Helen, I would take a free legal advice if available. If T break the contract, doesnât it mean that youâre not tied to the agency anymore? That would be an excellent news.
Thanks Tim. The biggest question is actually getting the commission for the term left back from the rogue letting agent. It does not sound very optimistic given they are such a bunch of immoral morons after the good ones I worked with left who are already ignorantly holding off money from me from past overcharge.
Who are these high Street agents. Name and shame. I hope you get it sorted it sounds an awful situation. I think having a shower screen fall on one would rather put you off a tenancy especially with other problems and the useless agent.
I would not allow the tenants to terminate the agreement early, and if they wish to go and seek legal action, tell them to feel free. You have made remedies for the problems and are at their disposal for any future issues.