Your options for complaining if you are not happy with the overall conduct of the letting agent you have used in order to find a private rented home. In order to launch your complaint, your first step should be to raise the issue with the letting agent yourself, directly. There are certain procedures for the letting agents and estate agents that you have to follow. You have to check the website of the agent or ask for their office details. They must at all times tell you about the complaints of the procedure if you request. What you need to do is set your case out clearly in writing and provide the details of times and dates wherever they are relevant.
You should try to send a written complaint if the letting agent does not appear to have the complaints procedure. The letting agent will investigate, ask questions or will request you to send copies of the documents and then go on inspecting your house.
You must always register your complaint with the letting agent first. Try to make a clear and precise report and explain exactly the problem. The best letting agents will try their best to resolve the problem in house. They will also have a set procedure in place that will be handled by the senior management.
Letting Your Landlord Know About The Letting Agency
If you do not want to follow a formal complaints process, you should try to contact your landlord rather than complain about the letting agent’s poor service. It might be try that the landlord might not be well aware of how the agent is looking after the things. The name of the landlord and their address should be on the tenancy agreement or it should be included in the correspondence or documents. You should ask the letting agent for the details if you are not aware of the address and name of the landlord. The letting agent must at all times tell you if you ask.
If your landlord is a company, the letting agent should tell you the addresses and names of the secretary and directors.
It is very common with certain agents that they do not fully respond in a prompt manner to your complaints or problems that you have with enjoying your tenancy at the property. If there is an actual problem, you have to first let your letting agent know. You can keep a log and details of all the communications. It is much better to have the formal complaints n writing and if you live close to the agency the letting agent can hand deliver the letter. You can even contact the head office of the franchise. You can find the number of on tenancy agreement. However if that is not true then you can deal with the head office address and contact their telephone number again.
There are different types of complaints that you can make to your letting agent. The property ombudsman will not consider all types of complaints and will only take your case on board if you have exhausted the estate agent’s internal complaints procedure.
The complaints that can be considered include the following:
A breach of the estate agent’s legal obligations to you
Poor service or incompetence
Failure to follow proper procedures
Maladministration
Unfair treatment
Discourtesy
Other important tips include:
First you must know your agent:
Managing Agent:
This person acts as the manager of communal facilities of a residential block, share of freehold or usually leasehold on behalf of the freeholder.
Letting Agents:
Arranges the renting property on behalf of the owner of the property usually chosen by and paid for by the owner of the property and markets it to its possible clients.
Estate Agents:
Sell property that is usually chosen by or paid for by marketing it to the potential buyers or sellers of the property.
You can also try to complain directly to the agent. As always, you should try to speak to the agent first directly by raising any concerns as you might have them with them in the first instance. You should always try to give the agent a chance to put the things right before they escalate your complaint. Moreover, if you are happy with the way the agent is dealing with your complaint, you should try to make a formal complaint and try to go through the internal complaints of the procedure.
You must also ensure that the letting agent belongs to a recognized professional body. The first thing you have to do is to check before using a letting agent is whether they belong to any professional organization such as the Association of Residential Letting Agents, Property Ombudsman and so on.
The current approved redress schemes are:
It is important to note that anyone can set themselves up as a letting agent. Even people who have been banned from practicing as an estate agent. A person or qualified letting agent who is part of the professional body will have to keep up with your minimum standards of membership and will also require the members to keep up to date with the best practices. A lot of rogue agents might display the logos of these organization on the website and they might also claim to be the members of a specific organization even when they aren’t.
You must also try to use a letting agent who has access to the redress scheme or has signed up for it. The scheme gives a clear route for landlords and tenants to pursue complaints with a 3rd party if they are not receiving the service which they are expecting from the letting agent.
These are the things that you must note before complaining to a letting agent. Moreover, to choose a letting agent, you must make sure that these people have written testimonials about the services which you are using. Testimonials are a guaranteed way of finding out about the letting agent.
Write a Comment