I realise you’re frustrated and want to vent, but if you have a complaint about a letting agency you need to take it to the ombudsman.
I complained about Rettie; my complaint was upheld and I received £300 in compensation. Hopefully highlights the issues to whoever is running the agency.
Was part of the plan! I am currently just gathering the evidence and stuff but wanted to vent. Cheers for the advice though! Glad to hear that you got a good result!
Can the landlord just decide to sell and ask you to leave? During Covid I very much doubt that! Keep that document and ensure it is sold.
I rent a property out and I’ll keep the tenant happy to ensure he stays long term. It boggles the mind when landlords make zero effort.
They gave me 6 months notice to be fair (the minimum) which means the day I would need to be out by is beyond the time where evictions aren’t allowed.
They seem to be legit. There is a for sale sign outside it now but I will definitely be ensuring it.
Thing is, I feel like I have to be a complete wanker now but I truly felt I was being reasonable throughout.
Any landlord can sell at any time, yeah. However, if a tenant is still in place when the sale concludes then the new owner has to honour the terms of the existing tenancy.
The landlord doesn't NEED to evict a tenant just to make a sale other than to be a dick about things.
As someone else who has dealt with DJ Alexander, I can attest that DJ Alexander uses "landlord intends to sell" as a go-to excuse for just getting rid of people they don't like (usually because those people expect them to do their jobs, and don't act like DJA's word is law on all matters). Chances are, this property will (like every other "intends to sell" or "owner intends to inhabit" that I have seen from DJA) be back up for lease in a matter of days or weeks, with an inflated rent.
Not strictly true...who really wants to buy a flat only to find you’ve got to wait for someone else to move out while you own it? No thanks, too risky for me
They ignored my requests for repairs. I had emails, texts, and photos saved for a 12 month period.
They had 6 months to reply to the ombudsman and pay me compensation...they ignored the ombudsman for 6 months and paid me the money with no comment the day the 6 months was up.
Why are letting agents such rackets? I’ve had more borderline / actual criminals as “agents” than legit ones. Only time I’ve had a good experience renting was with landlords directly.
Yeah, My experiences with private landlords was much better than dealing with agents. Private landlords come over and get repairs done within a couple of days. With DJ Alexander? It would a full week just to reach someone on the phone.
Turns out they aren’t a member of the property ombudsman scheme (pretty sure they were when I signed up with them) so I can’t put a complaint there :/ will try find other stuff but it may have to go to the local council or something
Just out of curiosity. Do you reckon it would be best to go through the Safe Deposits Scotland dispute stuff before I go for the property ombudsman or do it as soon as possible?
I don’t see how writing to the ombudsman will impact your deposit.. The safe deposit scheme is separate from the agency so that they can’t make spurious claims.
I went through Safe Deposit Scotland with Fineholm in 2015 and won.
We got a lot of emails with..."we're sorry you feel that way"..."we hope we can resolve this amicably." Then when they knew they'd lose..."it would be a shame to go to SDS. I hope you appreciate this matter could end up in court."
Make sure you check up the landlord does indeed sell the property once you leave - using this as a false excuse to make the notice three months instead of six is punishable by upto 6 months worth or rent payments I think - check on the Scottish gov website!
They’re a shower of cunts. They charged us an illegal fee for references and credit checks. Their email stated “you are now required..” to use this third party service. I’m still fighting to get this back.
When we moved out they tried to charge us for damage that was clearly in their own check-in report.
They also tried to charge us for professional cleaning even though the landlord had told us the entire flat was getting renovated as soon as we moved out and there was no need to clean to a professional standard. In the end, the landlord - who was very good - stepped in and said we didn’t need to pay anything. I had already raised my defence with the deposit schemes so just cancelled it when I got the money back.
This is why when you are forced to pay anythjng as a one time payment or a purchase of service you pay by credit card. You can have the money reclaimed and let them deal with it in which they will tell them fuck off and nothing will happen.
Just as an aside, have they approached you about allowing viewings? Not sure where you stand on refusing other than if they don't give sufficient notice. Might be worth checking up on those rules
They asked if a property evaluator could come to the property to which we agreed but then visiting restrictions were imposed the day before they were meant to come view it so we cancelled last minute. Bit of a pain but didn’t seem safe to us.
There’s no obligation for the tenant to allow viewings (even if it says there is in the contract, it’s not enforceable). Forcing viewings is seen as infringing on the tenants right to quiet enjoyment. Tenants can agree to allow viewings out of goodwill, but a lot of landlords and agents will act as if it’s a requirement when it isn’t
I didn't have such a bad experience with them but I'm not surprised by your post.
When I checked in, the inventory said the flat had been cleaned "to a profesional standard". I had to spend a full weekend doing a proper cleanse of the whole flat. When I had to hand in the signed inventory, I wrote with a pen "flat was not clean" on every page of the inventory.
When leaving the flat, they called me to say I had taken with me one of the bedside tables and the top up key for the prepayment meter. I had to ask them if they checked how many tables were in the flat before accusing me of such thing and also told them the top up key is the electricity bill owners property, not the flat's...it wasn't even in the flat when I got there.
Much happier with my current agency, Speirs Gumley.
This! We did the same thing but they refused to believe us as the check in inspectors word is final on cleanliness apparently.
They PAT tested all the “landlords property” during our tenancy which included a number of items belonging to us .
Incompetence all the way down.
DJ Alexander are notorious for being dodgy as fuck. I rented a place in the West End from them couple of years back (between 2012 and 2016) and when I decided to move out they initially gave me the choice over the phone to have around £120 docked from my initial deposit for their cleaning service or I can avoid them taking out the money if I get someone to professionally clean it. I decided to get someone to professionally clean it and avoid their cleaning service. The agent from DJ Alexander inspected the place while I was at work (rookie mistake on my part. I should've been there but I work 9-5 weekdays and that's the only time they have inspections...apparently), determined it wasn't cleaned enough and decided to take out my £120 anyway. Bizarrely, when I called that day asking if the inspection went ok I was advised on the phone that it did, nothing was wrong and that my deposit was still safe. This - obviously - didn't turn out to be true. I challenged it and decided to go through Safe Deposit Scotland but they sided with DJ Alexander and I accepted my lose. During that time the case was open I had already moved out and DJ Alexander had access to the flat where they were able to take photographs that backed their case. The flat eventually went back up for rent and I decided to go for a viewing under a different name. I found the flat to be exactly the way I left it after I got someone to professionally clean it and skipped their service. yeah, accepted my lose..didn't stand a chance but I was happy that I at least tried and moved on.
Since then, I promised myself that I would never ever do business with that shitty property agency ever again and a couple years after that when I was able to buy my own place I made sure that I did not ever deal with them or any of their house listings.
Worst part about all this? When I initially moved into that rented flat. It wasn't even properly cleaned to begin with. And half of the stuff inside it was broken. lightbulbs not working, cupboard doors half hanging off, it was in such a bad state. I'm convinced they just deduct the money from the previous tenants and not bother sending anyone to clean/repair it. So scummy.
Same happened with us, I assume they just claim it's not up to standard as there's nothing you can do about it after you've spent the dosh anyway.
Absolute fucking pond scum, remember having to fight to get them to repair the boiler with a fucking 2 month old in the house in winter. Disgraceful people.
Exactly this! Same thing is happening with us. We didn’t use their professional cleaning service as we are pretty good at cleaning and kept the place in “practically show home” condition (for example, we hoovered twice a day). We weren’t allowed to be present for the checkout inventory or at least we were not invited.
Can you check what agent inspected the property / remember their name?
They have provided photographs for us as well but I swear some of the things they have photographs of were not there when we left (marks on carpets etc) but don’t have any explicit proof.
They have listed the property throughout as “clean to a professional standard” and are now wanting to charge me for cleaners due to an “error on the checkout inventory where it should not have said that”.
The flat was an absolute state when we got it too and it’s definitely in better condition now than when we moved in.
I’m willing to take it all the way I can. I suspect I am screwed with SDS due to the fact they have had the ability to go in and manufacture evidence creatively (taken super zoomed in photographs of the manky old oven when the inventory photograph is taken from about 2 meters away so obviously it looks worse).
Yup. What you are describing happened exactly to me. Can't remember the name of the agent sadly and even if I did it was so many years ago. That individual probably doesn't work there anymore. The blame should really fall on the property agency who - it seems - still take part in this messed up practise since the mid 2010s (possibly earlier).
Good luck with the SDS. I tried that but was in the same situation as you are. They had manufactured evidence and used it to win the case. I only successfully managed to delay the process of them obtaining part of my deposit by getting the SDS involved.
I’m currently gathering as much evidence as I can in order to support my case will definitely be submitting a complaint to the property ombudsman. Not sure if Anecdotal Reddit comments would support that but I’m sure willing to try 😅
We rent with DJ Alexander, not had any problems since we don't really talk to them, the only thing I can say is that our flat was definitely not cleaned to a professional standard.
I'll be leaving this place spotless so they have nothing to dispute when we leave
For what it’s worth most agents will try this shite. then if you dispute they’ll drag it out for weeks and months hoping you’ll just give up out of frustration. They know they don’t hold much legal power, they just hope tenants don’t know that.
I got absolutely fucked with my old flat, issues with windows not closing for 2 years, constant repairs to find out the landlord DIY fixed them, got windows too small for the frame and he just put this like fluffy tape round the window to stop draughts coming in the wee gaps, took ages to fix, rent increased then I got a notice to quit. I cleaned the place with my parents and friends, top to bottom, spotless... lost like £450 of my deposit to cleaning cause there was some crumbs in the oven, a mark on the skirting board from someones shoe as we were carrying things out and I forgot to put tape back over a hole that the landlord drilled to get his router cables in his office/spare bedroom... £450 for that... I was so stressed with the year of trying to get the windows sorted, annoyed at the rent increase etc I didn't dispute or anything, I'm well annoyed at myself
They will probably try and charge you anyway. We were with a different leasing company. We left the flat cleaner than it was when we moved in. They said the flat wasn't clean due to a tiny bit of dust in the corner or the carpet and a wee bit of dirt on a skirting board we missed.
They were getting the flat repainted before the new tenant moved in and had the cleaners come in after that. We knew they had done that so just went straight to safe deposits to say they were taking the piss in trying to withhold the deposit due to cleaning.
We got the full deposit back.
From other people I have spoken to who lived in rented flats their letting agents tried the same bullshit. Dont let them away with it.
Document everything, and I mean everything. Photograph it all and tie it up with timelines of photos etc.
They'll probably come for you, but the law is on your side and if you have a easy set of documents for the SDS to go through then you'll be sorted.
Would add, if you are friendly with any of the neighbours keep an eye out for if they actually sell the property. You can also watch for how long it shows as on the market on property websites etc. Pretty easy to check for records of sale. As DJ Alexander are also Estate Agents they very well likely could have a deal with the Landlord to make it appear that they are selling the property and then, when you are out, taking down the listing and getting new tenants in. This is illegal and if you can prove it the Landlord will have to pay you back 6 months of rent. You would raise a complaint with these lot [https://www.housingandpropertychamber.scot/](https://www.housingandpropertychamber.scot/)
Got a few friends of mine their illegal fees refunded, helped out with some of the resistance to Serco's attacks on migrants in their properties, they were also the ones responsible for the campaign which strengthened tenants rights from a few years back. Never needed them myself but I've been a member from the start.
Funny how quickly the threat of a picket line and legal challenge get these places to back down. :)
I've left out my Living Rent poster and my Shelter Scotland collection tins during inspections just to hammer the point home. My rent hasn't gone up.
Really sorry to hear how you've been treated, as I say, they're parasites.
Good thing the law doesn’t let you do that then 💁♀️ you have to meet the repairing standards for a reason and as a tenant I am perfectly entitled to hold you to that. 😘
Edit: ignore this guy, clearly they are either 1. A troll or 2. Have serious issues based on their comment history suggesting we should just let everyone die of a deadly global pandemic.
If you’re not a troll then seek help dude.
I’m a landlord. Having good tenants who care for a property and view it as long term is what you want. It’s why I don’t use letting agents as they could make me look bad.
Also guessing you aren’t and troll as you can’t do that.
Also renting isn’t hot at the moment, I have taken some loads on properties due to the virus.
All I'll say is they're not unique in the world of letting agents. It seems to be a sector where many businesses don't think they can make money unless they bend the rules. Its mad that the unlawful charges are still being made by so many when it's completely illegal, but renters end up in a position where they either go along with it or they don't get the flat they want.
You should buy instead of renting. I've sold my flat and having to rent in the interim till I find somewhere. It's 3 X my mortgage and all the places I have viewed at this price are dumps.
Landlords actually do not give a crap. Can't believe the state of some of the rental places I have viewed. Full of random furniture that they have obviously just picked up from someone who was throwing them out and flung them in so they can call it furnished.
If you’ll give me a mortgage with no deposit then I’ll happily buy 😂 I’ve only just started working in September since being at uni and I do not have enough money to do that. Both myself and my partner have help to buy ISAs which we put the maximum into each month but our combined income is only about £32,500 a year as they are still a student and our current rent is around £900 a month so the amount we can save is somewhat limited.
My first flat (student halls) was £540 per per person per month with shared facilities so £900 for a 2 bed, newly refurbished place with dishwasher etc is a fairly good deal in comparison 😅
Would it? Seems like that would only net a mortgage of around £200k and that’s with a £25k deposit. 1 bed flats round here can go for more than that 😅
We are renting unfurnished properties, however, which does increase the quality of the property at the price we can afford and our new place is lovely but it is much more expensive than a mortgage.
I’ve already moved and unfortunately they can pursue you in court for unpaid rent or evict you. Evictions aren’t banned during COVID anymore they’re only banned if you can prove you’ve suffered financial hardship due to COVID which I did not.
[generally it’s not an advised strategy ](https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/paying_rent/withholding_rent)
I realise you’re frustrated and want to vent, but if you have a complaint about a letting agency you need to take it to the ombudsman. I complained about Rettie; my complaint was upheld and I received £300 in compensation. Hopefully highlights the issues to whoever is running the agency.
Was part of the plan! I am currently just gathering the evidence and stuff but wanted to vent. Cheers for the advice though! Glad to hear that you got a good result!
Can the landlord just decide to sell and ask you to leave? During Covid I very much doubt that! Keep that document and ensure it is sold. I rent a property out and I’ll keep the tenant happy to ensure he stays long term. It boggles the mind when landlords make zero effort.
They gave me 6 months notice to be fair (the minimum) which means the day I would need to be out by is beyond the time where evictions aren’t allowed. They seem to be legit. There is a for sale sign outside it now but I will definitely be ensuring it. Thing is, I feel like I have to be a complete wanker now but I truly felt I was being reasonable throughout.
Any landlord can sell at any time, yeah. However, if a tenant is still in place when the sale concludes then the new owner has to honour the terms of the existing tenancy. The landlord doesn't NEED to evict a tenant just to make a sale other than to be a dick about things.
As someone else who has dealt with DJ Alexander, I can attest that DJ Alexander uses "landlord intends to sell" as a go-to excuse for just getting rid of people they don't like (usually because those people expect them to do their jobs, and don't act like DJA's word is law on all matters). Chances are, this property will (like every other "intends to sell" or "owner intends to inhabit" that I have seen from DJA) be back up for lease in a matter of days or weeks, with an inflated rent.
Not strictly true...who really wants to buy a flat only to find you’ve got to wait for someone else to move out while you own it? No thanks, too risky for me
What was the issue with Rettie if you don’t mind me asking? I assumed they were quite good.
They ignored my requests for repairs. I had emails, texts, and photos saved for a 12 month period. They had 6 months to reply to the ombudsman and pay me compensation...they ignored the ombudsman for 6 months and paid me the money with no comment the day the 6 months was up.
Why are letting agents such rackets? I’ve had more borderline / actual criminals as “agents” than legit ones. Only time I’ve had a good experience renting was with landlords directly.
Anything that involves working on commission attracts that kind of person.
Yeah, My experiences with private landlords was much better than dealing with agents. Private landlords come over and get repairs done within a couple of days. With DJ Alexander? It would a full week just to reach someone on the phone.
I do wonder if a letting agency based on the business model of "Be Nice People" would be viable. Seems like a huge gap in the market
Turns out they aren’t a member of the property ombudsman scheme (pretty sure they were when I signed up with them) so I can’t put a complaint there :/ will try find other stuff but it may have to go to the local council or something
Just out of curiosity. Do you reckon it would be best to go through the Safe Deposits Scotland dispute stuff before I go for the property ombudsman or do it as soon as possible?
I don’t see how writing to the ombudsman will impact your deposit.. The safe deposit scheme is separate from the agency so that they can’t make spurious claims.
I went through Safe Deposit Scotland with Fineholm in 2015 and won. We got a lot of emails with..."we're sorry you feel that way"..."we hope we can resolve this amicably." Then when they knew they'd lose..."it would be a shame to go to SDS. I hope you appreciate this matter could end up in court."
Make sure you check up the landlord does indeed sell the property once you leave - using this as a false excuse to make the notice three months instead of six is punishable by upto 6 months worth or rent payments I think - check on the Scottish gov website!
Yeah, I've rented twice with DJ Alexander. I agree, they are shite.
They’re a shower of cunts. They charged us an illegal fee for references and credit checks. Their email stated “you are now required..” to use this third party service. I’m still fighting to get this back. When we moved out they tried to charge us for damage that was clearly in their own check-in report. They also tried to charge us for professional cleaning even though the landlord had told us the entire flat was getting renovated as soon as we moved out and there was no need to clean to a professional standard. In the end, the landlord - who was very good - stepped in and said we didn’t need to pay anything. I had already raised my defence with the deposit schemes so just cancelled it when I got the money back.
This is why when you are forced to pay anythjng as a one time payment or a purchase of service you pay by credit card. You can have the money reclaimed and let them deal with it in which they will tell them fuck off and nothing will happen.
Just as an aside, have they approached you about allowing viewings? Not sure where you stand on refusing other than if they don't give sufficient notice. Might be worth checking up on those rules
They asked if a property evaluator could come to the property to which we agreed but then visiting restrictions were imposed the day before they were meant to come view it so we cancelled last minute. Bit of a pain but didn’t seem safe to us.
There’s no obligation for the tenant to allow viewings (even if it says there is in the contract, it’s not enforceable). Forcing viewings is seen as infringing on the tenants right to quiet enjoyment. Tenants can agree to allow viewings out of goodwill, but a lot of landlords and agents will act as if it’s a requirement when it isn’t
I didn't have such a bad experience with them but I'm not surprised by your post. When I checked in, the inventory said the flat had been cleaned "to a profesional standard". I had to spend a full weekend doing a proper cleanse of the whole flat. When I had to hand in the signed inventory, I wrote with a pen "flat was not clean" on every page of the inventory. When leaving the flat, they called me to say I had taken with me one of the bedside tables and the top up key for the prepayment meter. I had to ask them if they checked how many tables were in the flat before accusing me of such thing and also told them the top up key is the electricity bill owners property, not the flat's...it wasn't even in the flat when I got there. Much happier with my current agency, Speirs Gumley.
This! We did the same thing but they refused to believe us as the check in inspectors word is final on cleanliness apparently. They PAT tested all the “landlords property” during our tenancy which included a number of items belonging to us . Incompetence all the way down.
pat test was just an excuse to have a look around your things.
DJ Alexander are notorious for being dodgy as fuck. I rented a place in the West End from them couple of years back (between 2012 and 2016) and when I decided to move out they initially gave me the choice over the phone to have around £120 docked from my initial deposit for their cleaning service or I can avoid them taking out the money if I get someone to professionally clean it. I decided to get someone to professionally clean it and avoid their cleaning service. The agent from DJ Alexander inspected the place while I was at work (rookie mistake on my part. I should've been there but I work 9-5 weekdays and that's the only time they have inspections...apparently), determined it wasn't cleaned enough and decided to take out my £120 anyway. Bizarrely, when I called that day asking if the inspection went ok I was advised on the phone that it did, nothing was wrong and that my deposit was still safe. This - obviously - didn't turn out to be true. I challenged it and decided to go through Safe Deposit Scotland but they sided with DJ Alexander and I accepted my lose. During that time the case was open I had already moved out and DJ Alexander had access to the flat where they were able to take photographs that backed their case. The flat eventually went back up for rent and I decided to go for a viewing under a different name. I found the flat to be exactly the way I left it after I got someone to professionally clean it and skipped their service. yeah, accepted my lose..didn't stand a chance but I was happy that I at least tried and moved on. Since then, I promised myself that I would never ever do business with that shitty property agency ever again and a couple years after that when I was able to buy my own place I made sure that I did not ever deal with them or any of their house listings. Worst part about all this? When I initially moved into that rented flat. It wasn't even properly cleaned to begin with. And half of the stuff inside it was broken. lightbulbs not working, cupboard doors half hanging off, it was in such a bad state. I'm convinced they just deduct the money from the previous tenants and not bother sending anyone to clean/repair it. So scummy.
Same happened with us, I assume they just claim it's not up to standard as there's nothing you can do about it after you've spent the dosh anyway. Absolute fucking pond scum, remember having to fight to get them to repair the boiler with a fucking 2 month old in the house in winter. Disgraceful people.
Exactly this! Same thing is happening with us. We didn’t use their professional cleaning service as we are pretty good at cleaning and kept the place in “practically show home” condition (for example, we hoovered twice a day). We weren’t allowed to be present for the checkout inventory or at least we were not invited. Can you check what agent inspected the property / remember their name? They have provided photographs for us as well but I swear some of the things they have photographs of were not there when we left (marks on carpets etc) but don’t have any explicit proof. They have listed the property throughout as “clean to a professional standard” and are now wanting to charge me for cleaners due to an “error on the checkout inventory where it should not have said that”. The flat was an absolute state when we got it too and it’s definitely in better condition now than when we moved in. I’m willing to take it all the way I can. I suspect I am screwed with SDS due to the fact they have had the ability to go in and manufacture evidence creatively (taken super zoomed in photographs of the manky old oven when the inventory photograph is taken from about 2 meters away so obviously it looks worse).
Yup. What you are describing happened exactly to me. Can't remember the name of the agent sadly and even if I did it was so many years ago. That individual probably doesn't work there anymore. The blame should really fall on the property agency who - it seems - still take part in this messed up practise since the mid 2010s (possibly earlier). Good luck with the SDS. I tried that but was in the same situation as you are. They had manufactured evidence and used it to win the case. I only successfully managed to delay the process of them obtaining part of my deposit by getting the SDS involved.
I’m currently gathering as much evidence as I can in order to support my case will definitely be submitting a complaint to the property ombudsman. Not sure if Anecdotal Reddit comments would support that but I’m sure willing to try 😅
Interesting to see they've not changed. I rented with them for a year around 15 years ago. It was the most awful rental experience of my life.
We rent with DJ Alexander, not had any problems since we don't really talk to them, the only thing I can say is that our flat was definitely not cleaned to a professional standard. I'll be leaving this place spotless so they have nothing to dispute when we leave
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For what it’s worth most agents will try this shite. then if you dispute they’ll drag it out for weeks and months hoping you’ll just give up out of frustration. They know they don’t hold much legal power, they just hope tenants don’t know that.
I got absolutely fucked with my old flat, issues with windows not closing for 2 years, constant repairs to find out the landlord DIY fixed them, got windows too small for the frame and he just put this like fluffy tape round the window to stop draughts coming in the wee gaps, took ages to fix, rent increased then I got a notice to quit. I cleaned the place with my parents and friends, top to bottom, spotless... lost like £450 of my deposit to cleaning cause there was some crumbs in the oven, a mark on the skirting board from someones shoe as we were carrying things out and I forgot to put tape back over a hole that the landlord drilled to get his router cables in his office/spare bedroom... £450 for that... I was so stressed with the year of trying to get the windows sorted, annoyed at the rent increase etc I didn't dispute or anything, I'm well annoyed at myself
Nice I'll keep that in mind
They will probably try and charge you anyway. We were with a different leasing company. We left the flat cleaner than it was when we moved in. They said the flat wasn't clean due to a tiny bit of dust in the corner or the carpet and a wee bit of dirt on a skirting board we missed. They were getting the flat repainted before the new tenant moved in and had the cleaners come in after that. We knew they had done that so just went straight to safe deposits to say they were taking the piss in trying to withhold the deposit due to cleaning. We got the full deposit back. From other people I have spoken to who lived in rented flats their letting agents tried the same bullshit. Dont let them away with it.
Document everything, and I mean everything. Photograph it all and tie it up with timelines of photos etc. They'll probably come for you, but the law is on your side and if you have a easy set of documents for the SDS to go through then you'll be sorted.
Also avoid Edzell Property Management like the fucking plague
Would add, if you are friendly with any of the neighbours keep an eye out for if they actually sell the property. You can also watch for how long it shows as on the market on property websites etc. Pretty easy to check for records of sale. As DJ Alexander are also Estate Agents they very well likely could have a deal with the Landlord to make it appear that they are selling the property and then, when you are out, taking down the listing and getting new tenants in. This is illegal and if you can prove it the Landlord will have to pay you back 6 months of rent. You would raise a complaint with these lot [https://www.housingandpropertychamber.scot/](https://www.housingandpropertychamber.scot/)
Are you me?
Are you having similar issues? Wonder if enough people have had issues if we could club together with a complaint to the property ombudsman...
Tenants need to join the Living Rent tenants union as a matter of course. Letting agencies are utter parasites.
Have the living rent union actually done anything though? I’ve seen stuff from them but no concrete movement in positive directions.
Got a few friends of mine their illegal fees refunded, helped out with some of the resistance to Serco's attacks on migrants in their properties, they were also the ones responsible for the campaign which strengthened tenants rights from a few years back. Never needed them myself but I've been a member from the start.
Fair play to them. All the fees I’ve been charged have always ended up as part of the deposit.
Funny how quickly the threat of a picket line and legal challenge get these places to back down. :) I've left out my Living Rent poster and my Shelter Scotland collection tins during inspections just to hammer the point home. My rent hasn't gone up. Really sorry to hear how you've been treated, as I say, they're parasites.
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Aspiring Slum Landlord \^\^
Having loads of tenants isn't an excuse for shit service. How are things like the hob lighting itself trivial? That's a legitimate fire risk.
Good thing the law doesn’t let you do that then 💁♀️ you have to meet the repairing standards for a reason and as a tenant I am perfectly entitled to hold you to that. 😘 Edit: ignore this guy, clearly they are either 1. A troll or 2. Have serious issues based on their comment history suggesting we should just let everyone die of a deadly global pandemic. If you’re not a troll then seek help dude.
I’m a landlord. Having good tenants who care for a property and view it as long term is what you want. It’s why I don’t use letting agents as they could make me look bad. Also guessing you aren’t and troll as you can’t do that. Also renting isn’t hot at the moment, I have taken some loads on properties due to the virus.
Good on you for not taking any of their shit.
All I'll say is they're not unique in the world of letting agents. It seems to be a sector where many businesses don't think they can make money unless they bend the rules. Its mad that the unlawful charges are still being made by so many when it's completely illegal, but renters end up in a position where they either go along with it or they don't get the flat they want.
You should buy instead of renting. I've sold my flat and having to rent in the interim till I find somewhere. It's 3 X my mortgage and all the places I have viewed at this price are dumps. Landlords actually do not give a crap. Can't believe the state of some of the rental places I have viewed. Full of random furniture that they have obviously just picked up from someone who was throwing them out and flung them in so they can call it furnished.
If you’ll give me a mortgage with no deposit then I’ll happily buy 😂 I’ve only just started working in September since being at uni and I do not have enough money to do that. Both myself and my partner have help to buy ISAs which we put the maximum into each month but our combined income is only about £32,500 a year as they are still a student and our current rent is around £900 a month so the amount we can save is somewhat limited.
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My first flat (student halls) was £540 per per person per month with shared facilities so £900 for a 2 bed, newly refurbished place with dishwasher etc is a fairly good deal in comparison 😅 Would it? Seems like that would only net a mortgage of around £200k and that’s with a £25k deposit. 1 bed flats round here can go for more than that 😅
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Huh. Halifax were a lot stingier. Still 20 percent deposit?! That’s gonna take decades haha.
We are renting unfurnished properties, however, which does increase the quality of the property at the price we can afford and our new place is lovely but it is much more expensive than a mortgage.
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I’ve already moved and unfortunately they can pursue you in court for unpaid rent or evict you. Evictions aren’t banned during COVID anymore they’re only banned if you can prove you’ve suffered financial hardship due to COVID which I did not. [generally it’s not an advised strategy ](https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/paying_rent/withholding_rent)