Are Letting Agents Thieving Bastards?

[Virgo's Haircut]

We are hopefully moving soon, and went to look at a place in Brighton a few days ago.

It was £575 a month, for what was described as a 1 bedroom flat.

It was more like a large rabbit hutch for hire.

They wanted 6 weeks deposit, plus a months rent, plus £115 per person to do credit checks etc.

We then told them we had 2 pet rats, in a cage. They said yes, you can have pet rats, but they will be another £200 deposit.

The robbing gits.

 

[Bluejuice]

In answer to your original question... Yes. Yes they are

 

[Rougvie]

They are, much better to use a private landlord who only charges a months deposit and £40 for a credit check (Thats what it actually costs from a place in Grantham) who would rather get 2 letters of reference from employer etc than charge a ludicrous amount for no reason.

Hmmmm, wonder where I would find such a gent

 

[Virgo's Haircut]

I hear Gumtree is the place to look, Anyone had any dealings with lettings on Gumtree?

 

[csider]

No they are not !! There are some bad ones who take on some shit holes. Try Carringtons in Hove - 777680.

 

[BIRCHYBOY27]

Did your rats have to have a credit check aswell?

 

[Virgo's Haircut]

Did your rats have to have a credit check aswell?

More than likely. And I don't think Oscar the Rat has paid his Visa bill this month.

 

[Birdy]

Don't go to Just Lets - they are an absolute bunch of incompetent fools.

I only went with them because they were "Friends of the Albion" & ended having to pay a solicitor to threaten them with legal action if they didn't return my tenant's deposit to me. They never took any calls, didn't chase the tenant for unpaid rent & I had to evict the tenant personally. Not a nice experience.

I am sure there are better letting agents out there....

 

[Hiney]

Hmmmm, wonder where I would find such a gent

Particularly if they are happy to part pay the rent with a bit of ANAL

 

[Giraffe]

As discussed on a previous thread about letting agents, always make sure you go to an ARLA registered agent. This will ensure your deposit is protected against the agent going bust or just running off with it.

New regulations come into force from 6th April which mean that the deposit must be given into a deposit protection scheme. Agents who are already members of ARLA will generally go into a proper scheme. Those who are not (the cowboys) may well do there own thing, meaning your deposit is far more subject to being nicked either by the agent or by the landlord at the end of the tenancy.

I would recommend Leaders

They have the largest selection of properties in Brighton and Hove, are members of ARLA and Friends of the Albion.

 

[Giraffe]

Don't go to Just Lets - they are an absolute bunch of incompetent fools.

That is totally true.

 

[ozzygull]

They are gits. I had to rent a house after selling mine and the person buying it wanted to move fast. This was fone by me as I was moving to a new area and wanted time to look around before decinding what to buy.

Anyway the I house rented in good nick and as I wasonly going to be there for a short while I made sure I kept that way. I should have known how anal they were going to be by the inventory list, when I took over. It mentioned a mark on the carpet that I could not see.

After I moved despite cleaning it from top to bottom, not puting any marks on the carpet, keeping the garden in a better state when I moved in. The gits still tried to keep my deposite because a ten foot fence had not been trimmed and there was dust on the top of the doors

I got it all back again in the end after some serious legal thret and the fact I took photo's of the place when I moved in and when I moved out.

So beware, sorry for the long post.

 

[Bozza]

Make sure whoever you rent with uses The Deposit Protection Service to look after your money, if you are renting after April 6th.

It means your landlord will not be able to take any funds from your deposit unless you agree to it and, furthermore, you will receive interest on your deposit when you come to move out.

:writing the website now:

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Don't go to Just Lets - they are an absolute bunch of incompetent fools.

I only went with them because they were "Friends of the Albion" & ended having to pay a solicitor to threaten them with legal action if they didn't return my tenant's deposit to me. They never took any calls, didn't chase the tenant for unpaid rent & I had to evict the tenant personally. Not a nice experience.

Interesting wider point: Are "Friends Of The Albion" just companies who have paid money to the Albion for the name, or do they actually have to come recommended?

 

[Race]

Make sure whoever you rent with uses The Deposit Protection Service to look after your money, if you are renting after April 6th.

It means your landlord will not be able to take any funds from your deposit unless you agree to it and, furthermore, you will receive interest on your deposit when you come to move out.

:writing the website now:

If that's the case I'm glad I'm no longer a landlord. Our last 2 lots of tennants did a runner without paying the last months rent and left the house in a right state and the other lot wrecked it and only got a little bit of their deposit back after everything was cleaned, replaced and repaired and there was no way I was letting them have a say in whether they agreed to it to it or not!

 

[Common as Mook]

New regulations come into force from 6th April which mean that the deposit must be given into a deposit protection scheme. Agents who are already members of ARLA will generally go into a proper scheme. Those who are not (the cowboys) may well do there own thing, meaning your deposit is far more subject to being nicked either by the agent or by the landlord at the end of the tenancy.

I would recommend Leaders

They have the largest selection of properties in Brighton and Hove, are members of ARLA and Friends of the Albion.

Not strictly true to be honest - I used to work for an agent who weren't members of ARLA, and I can honestly say I never theived anyones deposit.

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

We've got a three bedroom flat... newly decorated... 155 square cms with ensuite bathroom, jacuzzi bathroom and third toildet.... plus three balconies in the centre of town....... for 300 squids a month.









Thast's expensive for Turkey!

 

[Bozza]

If that's the case I'm glad I'm no longer a landlord. Our last 2 lots of tennants did a runner without paying the last months rent and left the house in a right state and the other lot wrecked it and only got a little bit of their deposit back after everything was cleaned, replaced and repaired and there was no way I was letting them have a say in whether they agreed to it to it or not!

Take an inventory and conditions report at the beginning and the end and the tenant will not be able to dispute that.

If the tenant and landlord can't agree the Chartered Institute of Arbitration will rule as to who gets what, based on evidence from both sides.

If the tenant can't be arsed to respond or knows he's in the wrong so doesn't respond then the landlord gets all of the deposit money returned to him.

 

[cjd]

We've got a three bedroom flat... newly decorated... 155 square cms with ensuite bathroom, jacuzzi bathroom and third toildet.... plus three balconies in the centre of town....... for 300 squids a month.









Thast's expensive for Turkey!

£300 a month for 155 square cms... That,s expensive.....is it a miniature doll,s house...?

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

Oppppppps 155 square metres...... that'll teach me to do metric!