A London letting agent too a number of its landlords to
court for failing to pay the agent its renewal fee..
The landlords had all rented their properties through the
agent for a number of years, keeping the same tenants in situ throughout, on
the 7th year renewal of the tenancy, the agent again charged its 6.5% renewal
fee, despite no longer working for the landlords...the agents had not
negotiated with tenants regarding the renewal, they did not manage the property
nor did they collect rent, yet still felt entitled to the £1,123 commission per
property
The agents brought the case relying solely on their signed T&Cs
specifically paragraph 8
“Renewal commission
becomes due in full whether a renewal agreement is signed or not when all or
one of the original tenants remains in occupation. Commission is due whether or not the renewal
is negotiated by the agents.”
However, at the hearing at Willesden County Court, the judge
dismissed the claim on the basis that although the fees, terms and conditions
document was signed by the landlords, the fact that the agents would claim the
renewal commission whether or not they did any work was not flagged up on the
first page of the document where the fee was mentioned.
John Miller, of Miller Clayton, which acted on behalf of the
landlords said: “In my opinion, it is unreasonable and unfair for agents to
charge a renewal commission at a percentage near to the percentage charged on
the initial letting after the fourth year of renewal, especially if they had
not carried out any work towards completion of the renewal terms.
“Even if they did, only a reasonable administration fee
should be charged.”
source: https://news.rla.org.uk/victory-landlords-agents-renewal-commission/
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