how to sue an estate agent for breach of contract in letting a property?

Question

The estate agent let my property out for £900 pcm, i am only receiving £500pcm.I have not been told why and who is responsible for the difference.
According to the tenant the estate agent knew that he was on housing benefit and unemployed and he could not afford £900pcm.
I asked them to let,collect the rent and manage the property for me at 15% commission which they have already taken out of the proceeds for a year.
The tenant is not paying the rent and they have not bothered to do anything about it.
The tenant has also broken the toilet and bath, I asked the estate agent to have it repaired way back in July they have not bothered.
In september I sent the case to the trading standards for help,I have not heard anything from them either.
I dont know what to do and I want my property back.

Answer 1

Bloody hell Marilyn, are you in Stoke?
A member of my family is going through this exact same thing!
Go see ctizens advice, they will tell you to get a court order to get this person removed. I'm afraid it does take a bit of time. And this 'person' knows exactly what they are doing and will hang on to the very last minute before vacating.
...And then go and do it to another landlord. There are no checks in place to keep an eye on these people, so they get away with it ime and time again.
If you don't fancy the courts, you need to get hold of some heavies to go around and make it known that unless they vacate your property immediately, dire consequences will ensue.
I'm not advocating violence, but you have to put 'the fear of God' into this person.
I really feel for you at the moment knowing exactly how frustrating this can be for landlords.
Good luck.

Answer 2

Send a certified notice for your tenant to vacate immediately.. You may have to get an Attorney for this one. Your leasing agent took you for a ride by taking their commission up front and doing nothing for you.. You would have been better off to do it yourself.
I would call the leasing agent and tell them firmly that you plan to sue them and expose them for being dishonest with you. Basically stealing part of your rental money and not providing you with a qualified renter.. Not collecting the proper rent or ensuring they are getting you a decent renter who has earning power and not someone on housing who is a lowlife. They did not properly screen for you and only put in a body so they could collect the upfront rent. I would start major squawking..do some scare tactics to show them I mean business..(don't threaten) do it professionally and exact and you mean business. See if you can't get some response that way.... I would not worry about getting the toliet or tub repaired right now with the tenant in there because your tenant is the one that has to suffer with that..not you.. let him suffer with it since he broke it. Why make it comfortable for him when you want him out and you are not receiving enough money.. Move forward today to get him evicted and hold your leasing company responsible... If you can't get answers from the leasing agents who answer the phone then go above them to their managers and keep going higher and higher up in the company finding the big shots who run the Corporation and let them know that you mean business and everyone will start helping you with your problem instead of taking your money and running with it.

Answer 3

Go to any council housing unit and ask for a booklet called Assured and assured shorthold tenancies. Go to Appendix C, grounds for possession, and look at the mandatory and discretionary grounds under which you can end the tenancy and evict the tenant. The housing office can equally assign you an adviser or if you have the funds go to a solicitor. But I will advice that you start the procedure yourself. Get the tenant out first, then go after the agents and report them to the NAEA as they can be struck off, i.e if they are registered.

Answer 4

Hi there

Actions to take:
1 - check your letting agreement contract to confirm details and that the Letting Agent is in breach of the terms.
2 - find out which professional letting organisation the agent is a member of .. probably one of www.ARLA.co.uk, www.NAEA.co.uk, www.UKALA..org.uk
3 - write to the agent advising them that they are in breach of their contract and unless the do (state what you want them to do to fix the problem) within x days (I would suggest 7 days) then you will report them to the professional organisation (e.g. NAEA, ARALA, etc) and seek action through www.moneyclaim.gov.uk (this is a low cost online service to take them to court).

They should respond to the above, but if not then write to them advising that they have failed in thier contract and you are now considering the contract to be broken. As such you will now follow up on the actions advised to them.

Assuming you take on the property management you should then contact a solicitor about recovery of rent and serving notice on the tenants to start the eviction process.
.............

The above is only a brief outline, as a priority go after the agent, if they don't respond take ownership of the property management and, and then take actions.

Its sad to hear that a few poor letting agents create such a bad reputation for the industry, hopefully they will respond to the above. If not try managing the property yourself next time - FYI I have attached a link to a tenant credit checking website that might help in the future.

Answer 5

I think that you'd better ask for some advice from a solicitor regarding all the issues that you've mentioned here. I know that this will cost you money, but you also could save yourself future money loss. The estate agent won't want bad publicity, so if there was a way of naming them and shaming them, perhaps in a local paper (if it has a Q&A section) if you've told the truth, you can't be touched for slander. Perhaps speak to citizens advice too, as they may be able to interveen. Write a letter to the estate agents noting all your comments informing them that you are about to take legal action. (Please let me know how you get on, as I'm interested to see if justice is done.)

Answer 6

Does the 15% include an insurance? Is the agent a member of a proffesional organisation? (ie ombudsman). You want legal advice not trading standards. Ask your local authority where you can get free legal advice.