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Hello. I'm new here as have had quite a problem getting consistent legal advice for a situation I'm now involved in - I hope I can get some help here so thanks in advance.
In brief, I paid to an 'estate agent' £290 for a reference to be made and a holding deposit that I signed to the fact I would lose if my reference was not accepted. I accepted that, partly due to my guard being down as have been trying to find some where fast while I've had some terrible home issues. I have never had a problem with references and am a renter while I build a house as don't sgree with mortgages.
The rent was £600/month, for a large bedsit. On a Monday I paid in cash the amount to sort out the reference and the agent had text me over the weekend saying to send info to the reference agency, FLS. They requested all my LTD company account details, including dividend info, all tax returns and accounting info. My accountant, a fully registered accountant and a man I trust, said he's never been asked for so much information for a reference, hence his alarm bells went up. I agreed, there was something not 'kosher' about the request, so I queried this with them. I spoke to what I can only describe as a 'cockney cowboy' who refused to cooperate and said he'd only accept all accounting details. I asked them to hold back for a couple of hours until I discussed with my accountant. Within 10 minutes a 'negative' reference came bakc, even though zero information had been sent to the referencing agency.
My accountant said he deals with references for property on a daily basis and never is he asked for complete accounts, but rather a copy of VAT returns that show my earnings, my bank summaries for 4 months and a letter from the accountant verifying my complete earnings, which were over £45K.
The referenceing agency refused to accept this. The 'agent' told me they'd put a negative, and I offered all my VAT returns, letter and bank statement and he accepted this and said he'd approach the landlord. The contract I had signed said if after 5 days this was not sorted out then no tenancy would continue. At 7.30pm on the Friday, exactly 5 days after my contract signing, I received a 'tenancy failure' - this was a shock as I had given above and beyond what I've ever had to show for a property, and I've lived in £2K+ monthly rents before, never with a problem - I truly did not think a reference would be a problem.
The agent then completely backed off and dissappeared from contact. I called many times to discuss and sent emails with no response ove the weekend and the following Monday. I eventually got tthrough and discussed this. I asked 'was it the reference result that swung this' and he simply said yes. I say agin, I never sent them any of my info, so I'm annoyed and not sure it's legal that a 'negative' outcome can be formed when no information has been given.
I offered to the agent - as I realised by his change of tone - that I'd accept £150 back from the £290, to which he said 'leave it ith me for 24hrs' and after this time he never got back to me. I accued him of a scam and some sort of professional extortion for the practice he'd used in this contract.
I called the Property ombudsmans (3 of them in the UK) and explained the situation. They informed me the agent was not on any of the redress schemes, which they informed me that any estate agent had to be a part of by law, and that he was effectively operating illegally. After further discussions with the Property Advice Service, his details were taken by Trading Standards and he is being investigated for illegally trading.
I sent a letter the moment I received this news stating that in light of new information of his possible illegal trading, and that his management of the contract had been dealt with in an arbritrary mannner (as discussed by Propery Advice services) stating I wanted full refund and that after 14 days, I would take legal proceedings, as had been discussed with the Ombudsman and advice service again.
I have disussed this with a couple of lawyers, but all have such different ideas, so I'm not sure how to move forwards. What I do know is that I'm ready, once I've received the right help, to proceed with a small claim for this.
I would like to know whether I have a case that will have a favourable outcome based on what I've written. The company is trading illegally according to Trading Standars (so far, they are proving to be extremely unhelpful in giving me info, which is odd as I myself made them aware of this agent.
Does anyone, if they've bothered to read my long explanation, have any soldi advice for me please?
I'm very tenacious and am always happy to challenge a situation like this, where in my opinion the agent was possibly in cahouts with the referenceing agency (as mentioned by the advice service and my accountant) and this unfair technique of taking my money for a zero result for myself.
I would be very grateful for any advice.
Many thanks, K
In brief, I paid to an 'estate agent' £290 for a reference to be made and a holding deposit that I signed to the fact I would lose if my reference was not accepted. I accepted that, partly due to my guard being down as have been trying to find some where fast while I've had some terrible home issues. I have never had a problem with references and am a renter while I build a house as don't sgree with mortgages.
The rent was £600/month, for a large bedsit. On a Monday I paid in cash the amount to sort out the reference and the agent had text me over the weekend saying to send info to the reference agency, FLS. They requested all my LTD company account details, including dividend info, all tax returns and accounting info. My accountant, a fully registered accountant and a man I trust, said he's never been asked for so much information for a reference, hence his alarm bells went up. I agreed, there was something not 'kosher' about the request, so I queried this with them. I spoke to what I can only describe as a 'cockney cowboy' who refused to cooperate and said he'd only accept all accounting details. I asked them to hold back for a couple of hours until I discussed with my accountant. Within 10 minutes a 'negative' reference came bakc, even though zero information had been sent to the referencing agency.
My accountant said he deals with references for property on a daily basis and never is he asked for complete accounts, but rather a copy of VAT returns that show my earnings, my bank summaries for 4 months and a letter from the accountant verifying my complete earnings, which were over £45K.
The referenceing agency refused to accept this. The 'agent' told me they'd put a negative, and I offered all my VAT returns, letter and bank statement and he accepted this and said he'd approach the landlord. The contract I had signed said if after 5 days this was not sorted out then no tenancy would continue. At 7.30pm on the Friday, exactly 5 days after my contract signing, I received a 'tenancy failure' - this was a shock as I had given above and beyond what I've ever had to show for a property, and I've lived in £2K+ monthly rents before, never with a problem - I truly did not think a reference would be a problem.
The agent then completely backed off and dissappeared from contact. I called many times to discuss and sent emails with no response ove the weekend and the following Monday. I eventually got tthrough and discussed this. I asked 'was it the reference result that swung this' and he simply said yes. I say agin, I never sent them any of my info, so I'm annoyed and not sure it's legal that a 'negative' outcome can be formed when no information has been given.
I offered to the agent - as I realised by his change of tone - that I'd accept £150 back from the £290, to which he said 'leave it ith me for 24hrs' and after this time he never got back to me. I accued him of a scam and some sort of professional extortion for the practice he'd used in this contract.
I called the Property ombudsmans (3 of them in the UK) and explained the situation. They informed me the agent was not on any of the redress schemes, which they informed me that any estate agent had to be a part of by law, and that he was effectively operating illegally. After further discussions with the Property Advice Service, his details were taken by Trading Standards and he is being investigated for illegally trading.
I sent a letter the moment I received this news stating that in light of new information of his possible illegal trading, and that his management of the contract had been dealt with in an arbritrary mannner (as discussed by Propery Advice services) stating I wanted full refund and that after 14 days, I would take legal proceedings, as had been discussed with the Ombudsman and advice service again.
I have disussed this with a couple of lawyers, but all have such different ideas, so I'm not sure how to move forwards. What I do know is that I'm ready, once I've received the right help, to proceed with a small claim for this.
I would like to know whether I have a case that will have a favourable outcome based on what I've written. The company is trading illegally according to Trading Standars (so far, they are proving to be extremely unhelpful in giving me info, which is odd as I myself made them aware of this agent.
Does anyone, if they've bothered to read my long explanation, have any soldi advice for me please?
I'm very tenacious and am always happy to challenge a situation like this, where in my opinion the agent was possibly in cahouts with the referenceing agency (as mentioned by the advice service and my accountant) and this unfair technique of taking my money for a zero result for myself.
I would be very grateful for any advice.
Many thanks, K
