Rental agents are required to be registered with the Estate Agents Affairs Board. This provides protection to both the landlord and the tenant. The duties of the rental agent differ between agencies as their duties will be negotiated with the landlord for a set fee or commission.
General duties include collecting rent, paying costs associated with the property (e.g. Levies) and paying the balance to the landlord. If the tenant does not pay on due date, the agent must pursue all legal avenues to collect the rent: call the tenant, send letters of demand, cancel the lease if necessary and demand that the tenant vacate the property after the rental agent has performed these steps, the land, as the investor who accepts the risk and rewards of owning an investment property, will need to foot the bill.
Hi, Im in a bit of a bind and i know i am in the wrong, but Iam just hoping someone can enlighten me with what the rules/law is around my problem. I have just moved into this house on 1 Dec 2010 and unfortunately funds that was meant to be paid to me in Dec did not come through on time to pay the 1 Jan 2011 rent. I am able to pay the arrears and 01 Feb 2011 rent on time. My problem is, the agency that i rent through has now called me and threatened to cancel my lease with immediate effect. This is the first communication that i have received from them. Can they do this.. what is the legal procedure that they must follow before they can evict me?
PLEASE ADVISE URGENTLY.
Dear Celeste,
Thanks for your comment. You are wrong and should have informed the rental agent about your problem in advance. The landlord also has financial obligations to meet and depends on your rental just as you depended on the payment from your supplier.
In terms of your query, they cannot just cancel the lease and evict you, they need to write a letter of demand giving you a period of time notice (which depends on your lease as you are in breach), after which can terminate your lease.
If you fail to vacate, they will have to apply for a eviction order. It is not beneficial for both parties to go that route in terms of cost and consequences provided you only have a short-term cash flow problem.
I suggest you contact the agency and inform them about your problem and a payment plan or payment arrangement and then stick to it.
You should also make provision in future that you pay on time and have a small reserve/savings to deal with future cash flow problems.
Hope this helps.
Michael
My friend paid deposit January 2011 to move into a flat. The flat only became vacant 1 March2011. When he wanted to move in the flat was filthy, tiles broken and lots of other problems. The estate agent said he must move in. He phoned the owner and only after phoning the owner, the flat was revamped with paint and new tiles, but he could not move in until 9 March 2011. The estate agent said, he can pay the deposito over two months. The deposito is paid in Jan 2011, but only half of the rent for March 2011 is paid. Now they want to give notice to my friend, who did not move in yet. What is his rights.
Hi Santa,
Thanks for your email. Basically, a lease was entered into (written or verbal), but on the commencement date the landlord was not able to give you occupation and possession of the premises. He was basically in breach of the contract. However, you still wanted to rent the property and therefore you were required to fulfill your part of the lease, i.e. pay full rent and full deposit (although split in 2 installments). I guess the actual reason is that the refurbishment cost might have changed the landlords mind in terms of the agreed rental. He is proabably able to obtain a higher rent as well as better terms of lease.
Legally, you need ascertain if your friend still has a valid lease or actually ever had a valid lease. If he did, you have rights according to the lease or common law. If he does not have a lease, you have no rights at all. I suggest you consult an attorney or file a complaint at the rental housing tribual.
Alternatively, I suggest you look for new accommodation, because there will be cost and time involved to fight this. It might make more sense.
Hope this helps.
Michael
I am wanting to book some self catering week end cottages through an agent and have asked for a copy of her fidelity fund certificate as she is looking for a deposit. She says she is not an estate agent and does not need a certificate and has been booking out cottages for years.. I thought anyone who rented out other peoples property no matter what the letting period had to be a registered estate agent and that it was an offence if you were not. Can you help?
Hi Alan,
If an estate agent is acting on behalf a third-party (i.e. not letting or selling your own properties) has to be registered with the EAAB and must hold a valid Fideltiy Fund Certificate.
Hope this helps.
Michael
I hope someone can offer me some advice. I am a landlord and currently rent my property through a lettings agent as I live abroad. Besides having no end of problems with these agents because of there absolute terrible service, at the end of the last tenancy there was some maintenance work that needed to be carried out before the new tenant moved in. I hadnt been made aware of these issues until I received my new tenants rent and noticed that they had deducted the costs of maintenance works. Now not only did they not inform me what needed doing, they went ahead and had the work done and have charged me for work that I didnt give permission for.
After weeks chasing them and asking what this deduction was, they finally came back to explain but If I had known about the maintenance that needed doing, I could have arranged for somone I knew to do it for free.
Now even if I had agreed for the work to be carried out, I would have deducted it from my previous tenants deposit, however the agents had not mentioned this when advising about the deductions, and so this wasnt deducted, so I am now out of pocket. The agents say that they wont refund me as its for work that was carried out, but not only did I not give permission, they wont even provide me with an invoice from the handyman to confirm the work that was done and to confirm the costs…
What I want to know is what right do they have to have gone ahead with the work and then deduct it from my money without permission? And if they dont have the right to do so, how do I get my money back?
Thanks,
I feel for you,professional incompetence is harder to control-I dont know how some of them sleep at night-But out patience is still continualy tested by inexperience L/A incompetence.Nonetheless,their blunders can have lethal consequences-as we landlords all know to well.
East London.RSA
I am not an estate agent, but a friend has asked me to act as the “go-between” when it comes to communicating with his tenant. I do not get any payment for this. I just help out as I am more often on emails than he is. The payments from the tenant go into his account and not mine, and I was upfront with the tenant about being the owner’s friend, rather than the agent. My name doesn’t appear anywhere on the lease agreement – the agreement is signed between the owner and the tenant.
Where is the line drawn between needing to qualify and register as an estate agent, and not needing to?
Hi My managing agent, on renewing my lease for 2 years claimed Procurement fees for another 2 years . Is this fair?? I thought procurement was for new tenants , not existing tenants renewing the lease??
Now the tenant wants to move out 7 months earlier and the managing agent contacted me and I agreed, but now he says that the Seven months procurement fee refund will be subtracted from the deposit of the tenant. The tenant disagrees and now the agent says he can do anything. I must speak to the tenant??
Good day
I just recently moved out of a cottage I was renting.
Before I evacuated the premises I realised that there was a blockage with the outside sewage pumps.
I notified the agent of this.
Today I was send a bill to cover the expenses incurred by them when fixing the blockage.
I just want to find out if I am soley responsible to pay the full amount they stated.
Good Day
I have a problem with the rental agency that I was renting through. They have requested that I move out one month earlier than the date which I have given notice for and done so. Now they say that I am responsible for the extra months rent, and if I do not pay, they will attempt to sue me. Is this legal? Another problem that I have is the flat, when I moved into it it was very dirty and in poor condition, When I moved out I had the decency to clean the apartment, and now the Agent wants me to pay for cleaners to come in and clean the apartment and he wants an invoice that it was done. Is it not the agents responsibly to ensure that it is clean before the new tenants move in.
Please reply to me as soon as possible as this is of an urgent matter.
Thank You.
Hi there…
I would just like to find out, my lease agreement states that my landlord has to give me 2 months written notice. The house i am renting has just been sold and our rental agent has requested that we move out at the end of this month as the new owners want the house my the end of the month. Am i right in asking for one months rent to be deducted due to the 2 month notice period not being stuck to?
I seem to have a problem with the rental agent I used to let my property, every month by the 7th I need to ask them why no funds have been forcoming into my account, every month I seem to get the funds paid in just before the end of the day. Today is the 8th of the month and no rent has been forth coming, and I seem to have difficulty in getting hold of an agent. What are my rights, please.
Regards.
Derek helberg
Dear Derek,
It depends what the reason is for the late payment. IT is not uncommon to get paid on the 7th calendar day of the month (or 3 working days from the first) due to the clearing of rentals collected by debit order. In others words, if you agent operates a debit order facility and the debit order is run on the first working day in the month, then they have to wait 3 working days for the funds to clear in their trust account. In January, this would mean that the debit order was only run on the 3rd Jan and payment would be done on the 8th or the 9th Jan. It still takes 1 working day to arrive in your account (provided you are banking with a different bank than your agent).
This of course does not apply if your tenant pays cash or via eft on the first.
You will have refer to your lease and/or mandate to read the service levels and breach clause.
Hope this helps.
Michael