Newbury estate agents Options

[Alice]

Hi,

I'm new to the Forum and was just wanting to get some feedback regarding Newbury's estate agents.

I'm currently in dispute with one and was wondering if any of you have had stories you were keen to share about your experiences.

[Ozzy]

I've had this situation before and to be honest I was too naive to fight it.

The deposit is such an easy way to make money for an agency. No matter how much you clean it and how much better the property looks it all comes down to their own interpretation, which is something you cannot really argue against. Clearly you can't leave the property in the same condition you arrived as that's impossible. I'm sure it all comes down to the general wear and tear clause.

It is such a typical con and many agencies pull this one.

Their word is effectively final on the cleanliness of the property unless you fight it and I strongly suggest you do.

No doubt they are pulling this trick on the assumption you won't fight it, which means they think they can get the money easily.

Don't take it and I would hazard a guess the more of a fight you put up, the more they will back down. I can't remember the statistic exactly but i heard somewhere that the number of complaints in this country is very low and we all take it on the chin with a typical English stiff upper lip.

Most complaints to banks end up with some sort of result, mainly becuase they never expect you to complain.

You've done all the right things by contacting everyone you can. If you can get through to the CAB then use their advice - it's free!

Why not try contacting people like Watchdog as well? They usually have similar cases on their website which might help.

My one bit of advice would be to get your own file in order. Get the contracts together, get photos of before and after, get everything you can so that when you come to put your case to someone there are no gaps at all.

And any tenancy contract should always just roll onto a month to month after the intial term. There should be no need to sign any new contract at all. However, by the sounds of it you did actually sign it which means you are most likely bound to it.

This link should help and offers you some advice

Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme

There is also some advice here on Notice. It quotes:

"From the date the fixed-term ends a tenant can leave, but should still give a month's notice to the landlord. If the tenant opts not to leave, the tenancy becomes a rolling agreement. Tenants on periodic tenancies or rolling agreements should give one month's notice in writing, ending on the day rent is due."

Good luck and don't take it!

[Bloggo]

I've had this situation before and to be honest I was too naive to fight it.

The deposit is such an easy way to make money for an agency. No matter how much you clean it and how much better the property looks it all comes down to their own interpretation, which is something you cannot really argue against. Clearly you can't leave the property in the same condition you arrived as that's impossible. I'm sure it all comes down to the general wear and tear clause.

It is such a typical con and many agencies pull this one.

Their word is effectively final on the cleanliness of the property unless you fight it and I strongly suggest you do.

No doubt they are pulling this trick on the assumption you won't fight it, which means they think they can get the money easily.

Don't take it and I would hazard a guess the more of a fight you put up, the more they will back down. I can't remember the statistic exactly but i heard somewhere that the number of complaints in this country is very low and we all take it on the chin with a typical English stiff upper lip.

Most complaints to banks end up with some sort of result, mainly becuase they never expect you to complain.

You've done all the right things by contacting everyone you can. If you can get through to the CAB then use their advice - it's free!

Why not try contacting people like Watchdog as well? They usually have similar cases on their website which might help.

My one bit of advice would be to get your own file in order. Get the contracts together, get photos of before and after, get everything you can so that when you come to put your case to someone there are no gaps at all.

And any tenancy contract should always just roll onto a month to month after the intial term. There should be no need to sign any new contract at all. However, by the sounds of it you did actually sign it which means you are most likely bound to it.

This link should help and offers you some advice

Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme

There is also some advice here on Notice. It quotes:

"From the date the fixed-term ends a tenant can leave, but should still give a month's notice to the landlord. If the tenant opts not to leave, the tenancy becomes a rolling agreement. Tenants on periodic tenancies or rolling agreements should give one month's notice in writing, ending on the day rent is due."

Good luck and don't take it!

You offer a lot of good advice here but can I say that understanding the agreement that both parties sign up to is crucial and if the curtains, carpets or whatever are clean and unmarked when a new tenant goes in then the landlord has every right to expect the same when the tenant moves out and this is written in the contract. If not then the tenant could wreck the property and walk away with no liability.
It's the Landlord who benifits from the deposit from the tenant, not the managing agency.
The Landlord also has no legal compulsion to offer a rolling month by month tenancy.

[Ozzy]

You offer a lot of good advice here but can I say that understanding the agreement that both parties sign up to is crucial and if the curtains, carpets or whatever are clean and unmarked when a new tenant goes in then the landlord has every right to expect the same when the tenant moves out and this is written in the contract. If not then the tenant could wreck the property and walk away with no liability.
It's the Landlord who benifits from the deposit from the tenant, not the managing agency.
The Landlord also has no legal compulsion to offer a rolling month by month tenancy.

You are right. As I said in my post; if the contract includes all those elements and it was signed then it's effectively binding. The carpets were cleaned, as she stated, so that is rather irrelevant in this case. Curtains is a possibility.

Clearly the principle of that clause is to offer the landlord some cover, but I would think it's fair to say that 'some' agencies don't always work hand in hand with the landlord. There can be a lot of wool being pulled over eyes. 18 hours of professional cleaning, forced to sign up to a second 6 month contract - c'mon - that stinks of someone trying it on!

I made my points based on the assumption that she has gone to a lot of trouble to clean the property and despite that she's still being charged. I think it's unfair to take £500 based on the steps already taken:

scrubbed from top to bottom - 3 days
cleaned the carpets professionally
3 month check about three weeks before departure
invitation to a pre-inventory checkout

Quite frankly it's just unreasonable. I think the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme is the perfect independent party to suggest agreement in this case. And based on the facts listed here then I can't see £500 being treated as reasonable.

[Bloggo]

You are right. As I said in my post; if the contract includes all those elements and it was signed then it's effectively binding. The carpets were cleaned, as she stated, so that is rather irrelevant in this case. Curtains is a possibility.

Maybe the cleaning that was done was not good enough. We don't know.

Clearly the principle of that clause is to offer the landlord some cover, but I would think it's fair to say that 'some' agencies don't always work hand in hand with the landlord. There can be a lot of wool being pulled over eyes. 18 hours of professional cleaning, forced to sign up to a second 6 month contract - c'mon - that stinks of someone trying it on!

Yes, you could be right but if a landlord wants a tenancy longer than one month then he/she is entitled to ask for it and no one force the prospective tenant to accept it. It's their choice.

I made my points based on the assumption that she has gone to a lot of trouble to clean the property and despite that she's still being charged. I think it's unfair to take £500 based on the steps already taken:

scrubbed from top to bottom - 3 days
cleaned the carpets professionally
3 month check about three weeks before departure
invitation to a pre-inventory checkout

Quite frankly it's just unreasonable. I think the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme is the perfect independent party to suggest agreement in this case. And based on the facts listed here then I can't see £500 being treated as reasonable.

Yes, I agree that you may be correct but we don't actually know what has really happened.

[Ozzy]

Maybe the cleaning that was done was not good enough. We don't know.

Yes, you could be right but if a landlord wants a tenancy longer than one month then he/she is entitled to ask for it and no one force the prospective tenant to accept it. It's their choice.

Yes, I agree that you may be correct but we don't actually know what has really happened.

At the very least she has good grounds to question the decision.

Something somewhere doesn't add up.