Andrea contacted Landlord Advice about a problem with her letting agent.
The agent had not transferred rent to the landlord’s bank account for several months and had stopped responding to the landlord’s calls and emails.
Talking to tenants
Andrea had already spoken to her tenant about the issue. The tenant confirmed he was paying rent to the agent under the terms of the original tenancy agreement.
Our adviser explained that Andrea could ask the tenant to pay rent directly to her. If she decides to do this, Andrea must provide the tenant with a notice of variation.
The variation notice should state that rent should now be paid to the landlord’s bank account, along with the sort code and account number.
A notice of variation is a legal requirement when changing any of the terms in the original tenancy agreement.
Dealing with the letting agent
Our adviser talked through the options for dealing with the agent with Andrea, including:
- making a complaint against the letting agent
- recovering the rent owed
We advised Andrea to check the terms of her contract with the agent for a clause to indicate how either party can end the arrangement. We also advised her to follow the agent’s internal complaints procedure.
Our adviser explained that many letting agents follow the ‘Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents’. This code, created by The Property Ombudsman (TPO), outlines best practice for letting agents.
The adviser explained that an agent is not legally required to be a TPO member. If the agent is a TPO member, Andrea could make a complaint to The Property Ombudsman.
The adviser also explained that a letting agent is a trader and subject to relevant consumer rights legislation. Andrea was pleased to know she could report this poor trading practice to Trading Standards.
Andrea’s losses were over £5,000 and above the limit for small claims court. We advised her to seek legal advice from a solicitor as the letting agent may have stopped trading or become insolvent.
Help and support for landlords
Landlord Advice is a free, confidential service for private landlords and letting agents in Northern Ireland.
Landlord Advice provides information and advice to:
- residential landlords
- estate and letting agents
- people thinking of becoming a landlord
Our advisers are available from 9:30am to 2:30pm Monday to Friday.