crustypaul Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 I have been letting a flat via the same letting agent for nearly 8 years now. The current tenant has been in residence for nearly 4 of those years and neither i nor the agents have ever had a problem with her. Her current tenancy agreement comes to the end in just over a months time and she has expressed an interest in buying the property. I have agreed to this and we have set the wheels in motion. She has given her notice to the letting agent and i contacted them to tell them i would be selling the property, only to discover that they are going to try and charge me a £1000 exit fee! The have also told the tenant that if the sale isn't completed by the time her current tenancy agreement ends, then she will be obliged to sign another 2 year agreement with them. This is plainly absolutely ridiculous! As far as i am aware, if i chose to stop using a letting agent and sell the property while a tenant has a current tenancy agreement, then the agent is entitled to charge me an exit fee, but if if i inform the agent that i will be selling the property as soon as the current tenancy has expired, i don't understand how they can charge me an exit fee as there will not be any current tenancy once it expires normally. Possibly i'm misunderstanding this, but it seems to me that the agency are lying to the tenant in an attempt to make her sign up for a new 2 year tenancy agreement, at which point they will come to me with the signed agreement and try to charge me a £1000 exit fee. Either that or they are trying to get as much money as possible from me while they still can by charging me the exit fee as it would be payable on the current situation i.e. with a standing tenancy, and carefully failing to mention that once the tenancy ends the exit fee won't be payable. Can anyone comment on the legality of this situation, or even if this appears at all reasonable? Thanks in advance for any advice........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Never ever heard of exit fees. BUT....If the agent found the tenant for you and that tenant then subsequently buys the property then the agent is usually entitled to fees for finding you a buyer. These fees may of course be higher or lower than just the exit fees ......so you might want to do your sums to see what is gonna cost more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crustypaul Posted June 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 I may have expressed this wrong. I don't understand how the agent would be entitled to any fees once the tenancy agreement has ended as has not been renewed? If the tenant has given her notice to quit at the end of her tenancy, and i have told the agency that i no longer wish to use them once the tenancy has ended, because i will be selling the property. How can the agent possibly be entitled to any money from me? If i was leaving the agency halfway through the tenancy then yes, i can see how the agency might be entitled to some kind of leaving/exit fee, but after the tenancy agreement has expired and i have informed the agency that i no longer wish to use them, then i don't see how they have any claim to anything. They didn't find me a buyer. If i had just told them i wanted to stop using them at the end of the current tenancy, they would have never even known i was intending to sell the property Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 First is it in the terms of business and if so can it be classed as a unfair term and therefore not enforceable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 There was a case a couple of years back whereby an LA tried to charge a finder's fee to the landlord because the tenant was going to buy the property after a period of renting from the LA. Apparently the case was won by the landlord and the Judge ruled that the LA could not charge this fee due to unfair contractual terms. I will see if I can find the details. You cannot be charged an "exit" fee. No such fee exists except in the mind of this particular LA .. BUT check your contract to see if in the small print this exit fee clause does exist and if it doesn't tell the LA that you will not pay any exit fee as there is no legal liablity for you to do so. Inform them that if it will lead to a court case which you will rigerously defend your case. A lot of LA's are currently making up fee's as they go along and placing these conditions in tenancy contracts so all landlords and tenants need to read contracts thoroughly before signing up. UPDATE. I thought we had had this query before a couple of years ago on the forum and here it is: Read the reply from Trenners. He is a good friend of mine and I would agree 100% with what he replied to by way of advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 Paul - what exactly does does it say in your contract with the agent on exiting tenants and what is to be paid if a sale results from an introduction via letting - yes that one will be in there somewhere - it is pretty standard stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crustypaul Posted June 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2013 Many thanks for all the replies. After saying i was going to have a solicitor look at this, the letting agent has now changed their story and have decided that they are now wanting to charge me a £1500 'introduction fee' (that £1800 after VAT!) because i foolishly told them that i would be selling to the current tenant. According to them this is all legitimate according to my contract, and is standard practice, although £1800 seems like an insane amount of money! They are also claiming that due to the contract, i cannot sell the property to the current tenant for at least 6 months after the tenancy ends without paying them this fee. So essentially they are saying that even if i sever all contact with them and never use their thieving services again, i still can't do what i want with my own property without paying them for 6 months! I really wish i had never told them i would be selling the property to the current tenant now. I could have just ended my contract with them and got on with the sale. What i don't understand is that i have two other properties managed by this agent, and it doesn't appear to have occurred to them that if they persist with this attempted rip off then they will most likely be losing those properties as well. I will definitely be getting a solicitor to take a better look at my contract, as it seems to me these people are just making this stuff up as they go along. Letting agents seem to have forgotten that they work for landlords, and not the other way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted June 15, 2013 Report Share Posted June 15, 2013 . According to them this is all legitimate according to my contract, and is standard practice, although £1800 seems like an insane amount of money! They are also claiming that due to the contract, i cannot sell the property to the current tenant for at least 6 months after the tenancy ends without paying them this fee. So essentially they are saying that even if i sever all contact with them and never use their thieving services again, i still can't do what i want with my own property without paying them for 6 months! Like I have already indicated to you they cannot do this and it has already been taken through the Courts whereby a Landlord won their case. It comes under unfair contractual terms. You need to talk to a proper Solicitor about this prefably one who is familiar with the case I mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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