Letting agent suing me (landlord) over cancellation fees
Discussion
Hello,
This is something of an update in a long-running saga I have had with an agent (who will remain nameless). I am the landlord and the property had a tenant in it. I have posted twice about this situation before, here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The agent has been letting the property to the tenant since 2021. I have paid full management fees since then. There wasn t much that needed doing (the property and tenant have both been unproblemmatic, rent paid on time, property looked after well etc) so I gave the agent notice to end the agreement with them.
The agent has tried to charge me a cancellation fee of £1000 +vat and has refused to return the keys (a set of which I gave them at the start of the arrangement) to me, and also to move the tenant s deposit to my DPS account. He has refused to negotiate, simply demanding the fee of £1200, despite me making a counter-offer. This happened in early 2025 (i.e 10 months ago).
I reported the matter to The Property Ombudsman back in January who said then that there was nothing they could do as there is a commercial dispute.
I asked the tenant to pay rent to me directly which he has done, and the tenancy has continued very well. The tenant has since given notice and now moved out, all as per the agreement - no complaints from either side.
I requested that the agent should return the deposit in full to the tenant and (again) that they should return keys to me. The property is changing hands and I need all the keys for the new owner.
The agent refused, stating that they would do no more work on the matter until I had paid the £1200.
I contacted the TPO again, who looked at the original complaint from January and said that they hadn't handled it correctly and suggested that I should re-submit the complaint about the keys, and that the tenant should submit a separate complaint about the deposit.
I therefore eMailed the agent again, asking for the keys back and saying that I needed a final answer to pass on to the TPO. The agent responded by eMail, saying You owe use fees for early termination, so unless this is dealt with, I will not be acting on this property any further. I am being more than reasonable and it is you who is not.
20 minutes later I received an eMail from HM Courts and Tribunal Registrations saying that the agent has put in a claim against me for £1280 (£1200 + court fee of £80). I had no Letter before Action.
The good news is that the agent has also written to the tenant saying that as they are suing me in the courts then they are happy to arrange for the return of the tenant s deposit, and I understand that they have contacted the DPS to this effect.
My question is what should I do about the court action? I don t believe that the fee of £1200 is fair. The relevant part of the agreement I have with the agent is as follows:
DURATION OF AGREEMENT & TERMINATION
Fees remain due and payable should the landlord dispense with the services of the agent during the tenancy and/or if there is any extension of the tenancy agreement (whether or not this is negotiated by <TheAgent>).
FEES
The landlord will continue to pay to the company a fee equal to those stated on page 3 and above for any renewal or extension of the tenancy whether or not this is continued occupation unless otherwise negotiated with the company.
If the tenancy terminates earlier than the full term the company will refund to the landlord [or his representative] by way of credit a pro-rata proportion of the management or rent collection fee subject to the minimum fee of £600.00 inc. VAT. The refund is only applicable if the landlord [or his representative] (a) permits the company to secure alternative tenants and (b) The tenants deposit is insufficient to cover the out of pocket expenses (which include any fees already paid in advance to <TheAgent>). No refunds are payable should the landlord or tenant terminate the tenancy either by use of any break-clause or by not complying with his obligations under the terms & conditions of the agreement.
You can see a (redacted) version of the landlord-agency agreement here:
https://mega.nz/file/FRABjASB#CRDQCyGYyJCfMTMfMxBl...
My question is what should I do?
My understanding is that:
- Continuation fees such as are in the agreement are not always enforcable under Consumer Protection Law and OFT guidance says that they are unfair. The agent are trying to charge for services which they are no longer providing. However the agent is not referring to these fees in his court application; rather they are simply requesting £1200 plus £80 costs.
- This £1200 is not mentioned anywhere in the agreement.
- Withholding the keys is not allowed; they are my keys and were provided to the agent to allow them manage the tenancy. The keys weren t returned when I cancelled my agreement with the agent and have again not been returned when they were informed that the tenancy has ended.
In short, how should I play this? I will respond to the court action with the above points unless someone can tell me otherwise, and if there are any other points I should raise then I d be very grateful to hear them.
I understand that this falls under the Small Claims Court rules therefore I can t claim back any costs of a solicitor (and neither can the agent), so I d like to avoid going down this route if I can do this myself.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
EDITED to tidy up formatting.
This is something of an update in a long-running saga I have had with an agent (who will remain nameless). I am the landlord and the property had a tenant in it. I have posted twice about this situation before, here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The agent has been letting the property to the tenant since 2021. I have paid full management fees since then. There wasn t much that needed doing (the property and tenant have both been unproblemmatic, rent paid on time, property looked after well etc) so I gave the agent notice to end the agreement with them.
The agent has tried to charge me a cancellation fee of £1000 +vat and has refused to return the keys (a set of which I gave them at the start of the arrangement) to me, and also to move the tenant s deposit to my DPS account. He has refused to negotiate, simply demanding the fee of £1200, despite me making a counter-offer. This happened in early 2025 (i.e 10 months ago).
I reported the matter to The Property Ombudsman back in January who said then that there was nothing they could do as there is a commercial dispute.
I asked the tenant to pay rent to me directly which he has done, and the tenancy has continued very well. The tenant has since given notice and now moved out, all as per the agreement - no complaints from either side.
I requested that the agent should return the deposit in full to the tenant and (again) that they should return keys to me. The property is changing hands and I need all the keys for the new owner.
The agent refused, stating that they would do no more work on the matter until I had paid the £1200.
I contacted the TPO again, who looked at the original complaint from January and said that they hadn't handled it correctly and suggested that I should re-submit the complaint about the keys, and that the tenant should submit a separate complaint about the deposit.
I therefore eMailed the agent again, asking for the keys back and saying that I needed a final answer to pass on to the TPO. The agent responded by eMail, saying You owe use fees for early termination, so unless this is dealt with, I will not be acting on this property any further. I am being more than reasonable and it is you who is not.
20 minutes later I received an eMail from HM Courts and Tribunal Registrations saying that the agent has put in a claim against me for £1280 (£1200 + court fee of £80). I had no Letter before Action.
The good news is that the agent has also written to the tenant saying that as they are suing me in the courts then they are happy to arrange for the return of the tenant s deposit, and I understand that they have contacted the DPS to this effect.
My question is what should I do about the court action? I don t believe that the fee of £1200 is fair. The relevant part of the agreement I have with the agent is as follows:
DURATION OF AGREEMENT & TERMINATION
Fees remain due and payable should the landlord dispense with the services of the agent during the tenancy and/or if there is any extension of the tenancy agreement (whether or not this is negotiated by <TheAgent>).
FEES
The landlord will continue to pay to the company a fee equal to those stated on page 3 and above for any renewal or extension of the tenancy whether or not this is continued occupation unless otherwise negotiated with the company.
If the tenancy terminates earlier than the full term the company will refund to the landlord [or his representative] by way of credit a pro-rata proportion of the management or rent collection fee subject to the minimum fee of £600.00 inc. VAT. The refund is only applicable if the landlord [or his representative] (a) permits the company to secure alternative tenants and (b) The tenants deposit is insufficient to cover the out of pocket expenses (which include any fees already paid in advance to <TheAgent>). No refunds are payable should the landlord or tenant terminate the tenancy either by use of any break-clause or by not complying with his obligations under the terms & conditions of the agreement.
You can see a (redacted) version of the landlord-agency agreement here:
https://mega.nz/file/FRABjASB#CRDQCyGYyJCfMTMfMxBl...
My question is what should I do?
My understanding is that:
- Continuation fees such as are in the agreement are not always enforcable under Consumer Protection Law and OFT guidance says that they are unfair. The agent are trying to charge for services which they are no longer providing. However the agent is not referring to these fees in his court application; rather they are simply requesting £1200 plus £80 costs.
- This £1200 is not mentioned anywhere in the agreement.
- Withholding the keys is not allowed; they are my keys and were provided to the agent to allow them manage the tenancy. The keys weren t returned when I cancelled my agreement with the agent and have again not been returned when they were informed that the tenancy has ended.
In short, how should I play this? I will respond to the court action with the above points unless someone can tell me otherwise, and if there are any other points I should raise then I d be very grateful to hear them.
I understand that this falls under the Small Claims Court rules therefore I can t claim back any costs of a solicitor (and neither can the agent), so I d like to avoid going down this route if I can do this myself.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
EDITED to tidy up formatting.
Edited by 2Btoo on Wednesday 10th September 12:28
Defend the claim
No letter before action should be looked at dimly by the judge
Make sure to send paperwork saying you are defending back now
Could try to get it struck out if no cause of action in the claim
Be prepared to go to court (in a year) - nothing to fear except injustice
Maybe counterclaim immediately for the keys, any other losses etc.
No letter before action should be looked at dimly by the judge
Make sure to send paperwork saying you are defending back now
Could try to get it struck out if no cause of action in the claim
Be prepared to go to court (in a year) - nothing to fear except injustice
Maybe counterclaim immediately for the keys, any other losses etc.
Peterpetrole said:
Defend the claim
No letter before action should be looked at dimly by the judge
Make sure to send paperwork saying you are defending back now
Could try to get it struck out if no cause of action in the claim
Be prepared to go to court (in a year) - nothing to fear except injustice
Maybe counterclaim immediately for the keys, any other losses etc.
Counterclaim would incur fees?No letter before action should be looked at dimly by the judge
Make sure to send paperwork saying you are defending back now
Could try to get it struck out if no cause of action in the claim
Be prepared to go to court (in a year) - nothing to fear except injustice
Maybe counterclaim immediately for the keys, any other losses etc.
I would defend, especially as I believe Court apointed Mediation is mandatory now and even if you lose in the end, it won't be costing you money only your time........ but you will have the opportunity to point out the EA's unnacceptable behaviour!
Take it to court and screw them !
Some agents are knobs. I had to physically threaten one who was trying to steal our son's wife's house by manipulating and thus blocking the removal of a tenant then getting the a 'friend' to offer far below market value for the house due to the adverse sitting tenant.
He didn't even know what a Tenant secure deposit scheme was, let alone put any money in one.
Grrr, still annoys me now.
Some agents are knobs. I had to physically threaten one who was trying to steal our son's wife's house by manipulating and thus blocking the removal of a tenant then getting the a 'friend' to offer far below market value for the house due to the adverse sitting tenant.
He didn't even know what a Tenant secure deposit scheme was, let alone put any money in one.
Grrr, still annoys me now.
2Btoo said:
Thanks for the answers.
One point I should probably add: the agent is a business and I am a private individual. (Strictly speaking, the agreement is between the agent and me and my wife, but the court action is only against me as I am the one dealing with it.)
Whaoh......her name on the contract as well ????????????? IANAL but she needs to be added to the Claim if it is on the contract.......EA sounds like a chancer to me.........One point I should probably add: the agent is a business and I am a private individual. (Strictly speaking, the agreement is between the agent and me and my wife, but the court action is only against me as I am the one dealing with it.)
ETA I recently had a not too dissimilar claim with an EA / Landlord and forgot to add my wife initially so had to add her later...costs were same as making the initial claim.......oh and I won as a LIP and got 'some costs back' but not the cost of adding her as it was my 'error'
Edited by LimmerickLad on Wednesday 10th September 12:47
This looks like a simple contract dispute and my grokking of the contract (and knowledge of agent contracts) suggests that you are in breach.
Fees were basically due to the agent for the duration of the period the tenant was in the property. You signed a contract to that effect and you can’t just decide to stop paying them because it feels like a lot of money for zero work.
Agent has offered a sum to settle; you didn’t take it so now they’ve taken the legal route. You can settle now or submit your defence, but if you take the latter route you’ll need something a bit more substantial than what you’ve offered up so far.
TL;DR pay to settle now, offset the costs against income, next time be a bit more savvy about what you sign. And use OpenRent.
Fees were basically due to the agent for the duration of the period the tenant was in the property. You signed a contract to that effect and you can’t just decide to stop paying them because it feels like a lot of money for zero work.
Agent has offered a sum to settle; you didn’t take it so now they’ve taken the legal route. You can settle now or submit your defence, but if you take the latter route you’ll need something a bit more substantial than what you’ve offered up so far.
TL;DR pay to settle now, offset the costs against income, next time be a bit more savvy about what you sign. And use OpenRent.
"Fees remain due and payable should the landlord dispense with the services of the agent during the tenancy and/or if there is any extension of the tenancy agreement (whether or not this is negotiated by"
Appears you owe the letting agency some fees, how much do you calculate it to be? If it's around £1k or more, I would pay up, and chalk it up as a lesson learnt
Appears you owe the letting agency some fees, how much do you calculate it to be? If it's around £1k or more, I would pay up, and chalk it up as a lesson learnt
Please note I'm a Landlord and not legally qualified so I'm only offering an opinion
The tenant issue is now resolved and while the agent behaved poorly it's pretty much irrelevant to the claim against you.
As far as I can tell you willingly signed the contract and then broke it. Your defence seems to be, they weren't doing enough work to justify the fee so I unilaterally terminated the contract. Which as already pointed out isn't going to go well for you.
Unless you can offer some reason like, missed property inspections, them being uncontactable or some breach in the contract I think you will end up losing in my opinion.
You could potentially counter claim for having to change the locks but as much as you don't want to I would be trying to settle at mediation and save as much as you can.
The tenant issue is now resolved and while the agent behaved poorly it's pretty much irrelevant to the claim against you.
As far as I can tell you willingly signed the contract and then broke it. Your defence seems to be, they weren't doing enough work to justify the fee so I unilaterally terminated the contract. Which as already pointed out isn't going to go well for you.
Unless you can offer some reason like, missed property inspections, them being uncontactable or some breach in the contract I think you will end up losing in my opinion.
You could potentially counter claim for having to change the locks but as much as you don't want to I would be trying to settle at mediation and save as much as you can.
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