Advice needed on house rental & estate agents????

[kellylou86]

Dear all

Hoping someone can give me some advice?

Me and my partner have just agreed to start renting a property. We went and viewed the property and decided that we wanted to go ahead and rang the estate agents, the rent was £420 per month. They advised me that I would have to pay £150 application fee, which I happily paid. All the credit checks went through fine and we were intially told that the house would be ready at the end of August. At the beginning of August we got told that there was going to be a delay as the current tenants were buying a property and their house had been put back by a month which made it to the end of September. We agreed to this as it would give us time to save up more money.

We were told that on the day we move in we would have to pay our month's rent of £420 plus six weeks as a bond making the total £1050. Again this was fine with us.

I have received a phone call today from the estate agents saying that they have made an error at the office and the rent is going to be £460 a month. We have not budgetted for this and think for the size of the property compared to others in the area this is a bit excessive as the house needs alot of decorating and TLC.

If we decide not to go ahead with the property due to the increase in rent then will we loose our £150 application fee, obviously we are not sure what to do.

Does anyone know if this is the correct proceedure or should the estate agents stand at what price the house was advertised for. I think at least if we dont go ahead we should receive our application fee back as this is not our fault and the reason we wanted the property is because it was £420 not £460. For the same amount (460) we could have got a bigger house with an extra bedroom in the same area.

Your thoughts would be greatly received

Kelly

[Pebble.co.uk.ltd]

Hi Kellylou

Hopefully this will assist you.

Firstly the 'appliciation fee' should be the holding deposit to hold the property. I presume that this is the case as otherwise the agent would not be stating that you will loose this if you didnt proceed/landlord pulled out. On the reciept they issued to you did they confirm what would happen if you pulled out. Ie; the holding deposit is not returnable? I also feel if this was an application fee, its quite high just to process your forms. Normally a tenant would leave a holding deposit and on succesful references being received. This amount would be taken off any intial monies due. A adminstration fee to cover references is normally a seperate amount.

On the initial money you were told that you would need to pay, did the agent put this is writing. Ie; on the application form or covering letter confirming this. As this would really tie the agent to the figures that they quoted initially. Obviously if the landlord came back and stated that they wanted a higher rental. There is then nothing you can do, especially if the agent wasnt aware until a later date. I presume that agent did issue all paperwork subject to contract.

If the property is as you state and is higher in price than comprables, it seems that the agent would have problems in finding a new tenant. Afterall you have passed all the checks and are just waiting to sign contracts. This may just be a marketing tactic. Remember the rental the agent achieves does reflect on the fees. They would be better to take you asap, then loose the eqvuilant of 1/2 weeks while their are remarketing it.

If they advertised it at this price (local .newspaper/internet), I would hold them to it. If you have the advert all the better, as they should of confirmed the price with their client before the remarketing took place. It could be argued here that they did not adhere to the original moving in date. As an ex-agent, common sense should prevail and the agent should stick to the price. If they have got their figures wrong and priced it wrong, they should contra this on the fees to the lanldord.

I would also suggest before you put any further money down, that you get a firm date. As you dont wanting it moving on, as the present buyers sale is still going on.

Hope this helps, best of luck in resolving this.

Pebble.co.uk.ltd - effective landlord solutions

[kellylou86]

Thanks Pebbles.

I have since spoken to the estate agents who have advised that if we did want to cancel the moving in then they would refund the application fee and would take approx 1 week. I asked them if there is anything else they could do to which they replied 'no'. I am currently seeking advice from CAB and am trying to get hold of the advertisement. I feel that they should stick to the price they initially quoted as now we will have to pay more money for the deposit as the rent has gone up and this only gives us two weeks to find the extra cash of £100.
If anyone else has any thought please let me know.

Thanks