Terrible letting agents - Help please

[Liamhastings]

I’m hoping someone here has some information and can help me make some decisions too.

Basically I moved into a new property last September with my partner. It’s rented from a nice couple who moved abroad and managed by ‘Paul Simon Estate Agents’.

Since the start things have been pretty bad with our agent. First – and mainly - the toilet flush broke, and there were a few other small issues. These dragged on for months, right up past Christmas till January. Getting things fixed was a slow business. Most of the time, the agents didn’t return calls or keep appointments. The plumbers/builders that the agents used seemed particularly poor. They too missed appointments, didn’t finish work, etc. In the few weeks before Christmas, I started to become very angry over all this, and sent a few letters/emails about the situation, informing them that unless action was taken I was going have the work completed myself. We were also in contact with the flat owners, informing them what was happening. They interceded on our behalf and sent some quite angry emails (and copied us in) to the agents telling them that they were paying a lot of money to deal with all this and they shouldn’t be having to keep an eye on them etc. Finally after Xmas the toilet was fixed. I then sent a long complaint to them regarding the length of time it took to sort and how everything was dealt with – remember we didn’t have a proper toilet for almost 5 months; we had to pour buckets of water down the bowl all that time. The agents replied to this with a letter, filled with mistruths and strange lies. Stating that we had refused them access to the property, we had missed appointments and that the plumbers had been ‘sent away’ by my mother on one occasion! The whole thing was just a joke. I sent a massive reply refuting practically everything they had said – most of it I was able to prove wrong and so the agents said they would look into it and get back to us. They haven’t.

In the meantime, we also had a water leak in our kitchen from the flat upstairs over the New Year. That was dealt with fairly quickly, but it’s again took a long time to completely fix the damage (Paining the walls and ceiling etc.) – only just finished in May! We had other issues with our electrics, and then again with the toilet – this time the pipes and plumbing. We’d reported this back in December and think it had something to do with not having a flush on the toilet for so - long causing waste to build up - but nothing was ever done about it until the last few weeks.

This all a bit disjointed and hard to explain – there are about half a dozen other things I could complain about - but the general gist is that the agents:

-Don’t reply to contact – Letters, emails or phone calls

-Fail to have things fixed in a timely manner

-Are slow and quite often rude

 

The worst part about this was our toilet. We had no flash for the first 3-4 months and then a continually blocking/overflowing toilet for the next 3 months. That alone I feel is almost criminal.

What I want is to take some kind of action against these agents. Now I know they’re not part of any registered schemes (Big shock) so that route is closed. Is there anything else I can do?

The second issue is this. I do NOT want to have to deal with them for a second year. We’re paying £1250 P/M, and they take about 15% of this, whist doing very little. I seem to spend more time on the phone, writing letters and chasing things up than them. Assuming my landlords/owners agree, is it possible to change to another letting agents? Or even pay direct to my landlords and cut out the agents? I’ve read all sorts of things about you not being about to ‘leave’ the agents and go direct with the owner which sounds very strange to me, after all, the landlords own the flat! Although I’m not really aware what kind of contract the landlords have with the agents.

 

So, any ideas, information and help?

[Ed999]

My advice is applicable only if the rented premises are entirely within England and Wales, and only if you were granted a shorthold tenancy (under which you [and your spouse/partner/children if any] had exclusive use of a seperate dwelling, which was not shared with another tenant nor with the landlord) and you were over 18 years of age when the tenancy was granted.

 

 

Bear in mind that if you are a shorthold tenant, you can be evicted from the premises by simply being given 2 months notice, in writing, taking effect after any fixed term ends (expiring on the last day of a rent period). No reason has to be given. Where a dispute arises, concerning any matter, the landlord can simply end the tenancy in that way.

 

 

If there is disrepair, the tenant might be entitled in law to sue the landlord for damages (i.e. compensation).

 

Read this FAQ - Disrepairs in privately rented accommodation

 

 

Beware of agreeing to pay for any items which are the landlord's responsibility to pay for. A shorthold tenant can be evicted from the premises by simply being given 2 months notice, in writing, taking effect after any fixed term ends. No reason has to be given. Where a dispute arises, concerning any matter, the landlord can simply end the tenancy in that way. So it never makes sense to pay for improvements to the premises.

 

 

The existence of mere disrepair does not end the tenancy. You must give proper written notice to do that, unless the landlord waives his right to such notice by re-letting the premises.

 

Under section 11 of the 1985 Act, the property must be kept in repair by the landlord to, at minimum, a standard that renders it "fit for occupation".

 

In a suitable case, the Council's housing department - who have some legal powers even in a private letting - can certify a property as unfit for occupation. If they do so, there is an argument that the tenancy might thereby be ended, by the contractual principle known as 'frustration' of the contract.

 

But if you can't obtain such a certificate in your case, then the tenancy can't be ended by the disrepair.

[gavbon2011]

9/10 of them are terrible, especially with their charges!

[gavbon2011]

3-4 months without a flush is terrible!

[gavbon2011]

and the council will help you if you contact them