24Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: Keeping the House warm!

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by Steve Roulstone

At our office in Stafford, at this time of year, we like to remind our Tenants on behalf of our Landlords, especially in relation to their Insurance, that during the winter months they have the responsibility of keeping their rented property at the right temperature to combat our winter weather. We do this every year to ensure that property is left unprotected during holidays, be it skiing, a winter break or just over the Christmas period that Tenants are away, the home still needs protecting. Especially after the hard spells we experienced last year, which were a timely reminder ensuring we do not take any year for granted as far as the weather in this country is concerned.

Correct temperature recommended.

Of course one of the most important pieces of advice, in amongst information on emergency procedures and confirmation of responsibility, is the correct temperature that an empty house should be maintained at and it is this one figure that I wanted to highlight today, because should you ask any group of people what temperature they should maintain their own house at whilst away during the winter months, it would be my position that very few would be correct in their estimate!

Plumbers and Insurance agree.

The surprising thing was that the recommendation was agreed by both the Insurance companies (written as part of the policy) and the plumbers we spoke to, namely that the house should be kept between 12c and 15c. (I know that in my own house, and even in the rented property I now occupy, I have never aimed to keep the property at this figure) However, what matters here is that as Agents we advise the Tenants in a manner that they both realize their responsibilities and are advised in a way that the implications are understood.

Co-operation required.

If it is part of a Landlords Insurance policy that a minimum temperature be maintained when a property is empty, then it is important that Tenants are reminded at least once a year and that the reminder is timely, with the beginning of the winter being the best time to renew the instruction. There is no doubt that cold snaps such as we experienced last year may not come every year, but then there is just as much chance that they will and this is something that the Landlord cannot ignore, because should an Insurance Company be able to prove that a property has not been maintained correctly, then they have the ultimate sanction and could refuse to accept any subsequent claim!     

Clear advice and implications.

What we would all seek to avoid in such circumstances, is a situation where the Tenant can be held responsible for damage caused because they did not follow what was required of them so it is important that they are both made aware and advised of the clear implications that could follow from not carrying out there responsibility. What we do know from previous experience, is uncommon to popular belief, the majority of Tenants do understand and are sympathetic to what they need to do in these circumstances and therefore when advised properly and informed on time, they will co-operate and help to keep ‘burst pipes’ to a minimum!

21Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: Utility providers recognize rental growth.

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By Steve Roulstone

For years the biggest issue Letting agents had with Utility providers was that they did not understand how the rental system works and that whilst a Landlord has Tenants in the property, any costs generated were not Landlords responsibility.  The end result was invoices sent willy nilly to all and sundry in an attempt to get somebody to pay for supplies. From day one we have always sent faxes at both the start and end of tenancies confirming changes, names and forwarding addresses.

Too busy.

This was always reliant upon utility providers supplying fax numbers where this information could be sent, but on one classic occasion the manner in which they addressed rental properties shone through, when I was faxing British Gas and because the phone was on a speaker rest, I quite clearly heard the BG employee at the other end say ‘we have had enough fax’s today I am going to turn this machine off’!! Sure enough, it took three days before we could get through again.

Change in approach.

It is hard enough sometimes to find out who Tenants have changes suppliers too, but typical of utility providers, who along with the practice of firing invoices right left and centre never mind how many times we sent them clear information (including on many occasions in the name of the Letting Agent, who of course can never be responsible for costs generated at any property) and sending highly inflated invoices for periods between Tenants (this is a particularly popular practice with the water companies, who when multiplying the cost out charged at up to twice the annual rate for one or two week periods) they have now managed to get legislation introduced which means they may now charge the property owner if they do not have sufficient Tenant details.

A justified approach?

Of course if the services are not contacted and it is the responsibility of the outgoing and incoming person who pays bills to advise of the change, then one can understand their motivation. But if a Tenant does not advise of a forwarding address when they leave, then Landlords could find themselves responsible for the Tenants failure to advise correctly. Because this is part of what we always do as Letting Agents, we should never fall fowl of this new legislation, but Landlords who manage property themselves can no longer hide behind the excuse that it is not their fault. They must now ensure that they supply the information at the end of a Tenancy, even if a property is abandoned, doing nothing is no excuse and contact and information known should be supplied.

Only for water.

The legislation is contained in section 45 of the Flood and Water Management act of 2010 and is therefore at present only available for water utility companies, but I am sure that once the electric and gas providers realize (if they have not already done so) that this is possible, they will quickly lobby for the same powers. For me the biggest problem is that for years they treated the rental industry as a nuisance and now that the figures are obviously much bigger, seek legislation to protect themselves. A pity they could not just be efficient in how they go about dealing with changes at property and adapt themselves to the market, because by using legislation they are implying that they are protecting themselves from people who wish to defraud them through the law, when I believe that the reality is that the legislation has been smuggled through the back door to save them money in coping with what is a major change in trend in this country through efficiency and having to introduce workable but time consuming solutions. How much easier just to invoice the registered property owner!

18Oct 2011

Property Landlord Advice: PAT testing for all!

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By Steve Roulstone

The ‘all’ in the title above is referring to all portable electrical goods in any rented accommodation which is a House of Multiple Occupation and in particular the Tenants goods as well as any electrical items supplied  by the Landlord which is not something that would automatically come to mind, but the principals are just the same as the reasons why goods are tested in the first place.

Portable Appliance Testing

It is one of those sayings which gets accepted as an acronym and slips in to our language so easily that the proper meaning can easily be forgotten.  But the reason for testing all appliances supplied by the Landlord, is lost if the appliances supplied by the Tenants are not tested as well. This means any heating device, television or even fridge that they supply, will need to be tested as well, otherwise the whole point of carrying any test out is lost.

Enforcing the rules.

Of course it is how you manage this and of course why it should be done in the first place that needs to be explained. In our case at Stafford, we manage two blocks of rooms (over 60 in each) which are run by Wardens that we supply and the recommendation came about as a result of a Health and Safety and Fire Inspection, on behalf of the insurers, who naturally want to know that everything is being done to minimize the risks involved, especially where foreign students or workers are concerned with electrical items that run on a different current to our own electrical system. (Rice cookers are a prime example) What we do is to advertise the day we have our own test carried out and then allow goods to be tested free of charge.

Contractually bound.

The difficulty is enforcing the rule, which we also add to our contract for the accommodation, because if this opportunity is ignored, then it is almost impossible to enforce the test, so it is very much about communications and taking advantage of every opportunity to have the work carried out, which is why testing for free along with the Landlords property is, we feel, such a good idea.

Computers.

Of course the biggest area is lap tops and computers as virtually every student and indeed worker would now have their own computer, which still needs to be tested and despite the obvious reaction that any test would ‘blow’ the computer, there are set standards and methods (of course!) to follow. Such information is vital when assuring your Tenant that the test needs to be carried out and you are faced with the inevitable statement to do so would destroy the computer.

14Oct 2011

Current Property News: Rental services being stretched during difficult times.

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By Steve Roulstone

At our office in Stafford, we are seeing many Landlords reviewing what they pay for our rental services, this is to be expected when everybody has to look at their expenditure very closely and where possible make savings. We have seen whole families change from a Fully Managed service to Tenant Find only and we hope that what they have witnessed over the last seven years whilst we have managed property on their behalf, will stand them in good stead, and of course should they need professional help then we will be available to assist wherever possible.

Review prices.

What we have done to assure our Landlords that they are getting good value for money is to look at what we charge for all of our services, by breaking down the different facets of what makes a Fully Managed service and price them individually.

Comprehensive cover.

 This of course makes quite a list, from Initially finding a Tenant through checking them in to the property, dealing with maintenance issues, visiting the property on a regular basis, collecting rent and paying via statement and of course chasing and pursuing arrears, as well as finally checking Tenants out of the property, which leads to where we normally started, with a review of the home and advice pre renting again.

Value for money.

Of course when you look at the charges broken down in this manner, then the overall average charge to a Landlord under Full Management no longer looks out of place, and at times we need to be aware of what saving a Landlord would make set against paying individually. Not that I believe Landlords are wrong to review what they pay, far from it, this is what  they should do as would I for regular occurring expenses, especially under the current financial restraints that everybody is feeling.

Review services.

What we should be able to do as Agents is be aware of the possible financial restraints our customers are going through and be ready to assist the process, which means we need to review every section of our service and ensure we can offer each separate part in a professional and cost effective manner. Because even though Landlords may wish to make savings, there are still bound to be parts of what we do that would make better sense and that Landlords would still prefer to be dealt with by others, just look at Property Visits, or of course Rent collection and arrears chasing. There is no doubt in my mind that just like any other organization in these difficult times, we need to be ahead of the game on our Landlord’s behalf, as the financial situation is not going to change (as my Father would say) ‘just yet a while!’

11Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: SAFEagent (3): At last friends in high places!!

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By Mike Edwards

The final stage in the initial creation of the SAFEagent scheme which soon launches to the public, will see it do so with a major endorsement from housing minister Grant Shapps. The endorsement includes displaying the kitemark on the CLG website, whilst Shapps has congratulated the industry for taking matters into its own hands and urged agents not signed up to the SAFEagent scheme to do so immediately. He announced the Government’s official support for the industry-led campaign at the same time as launching new factsheets for landlords and tenants. In them, both tenants and landlords are specifically advised that they should seek out a SAFEagent member. Shapps emphasised that he is supporting initiatives such as SAFEagent in preference to regulating the private rented sector. He has, however, has taken no convincing regarding the merits of the SAFEagent scheme. He said it was aimed at addressing a key area of concern for both tenants and landlords when it came to letting agents – making sure their money is safe. 

Shapps said: “The private rented sector provides a valuable source of accommodation for over three million people in England, and the vast majority of them are happy with the service they receive. “That’s why I have promised not to wrap the sector in red tape, but instead to work with the industry to help them develop their own plans to tackle those bad landlords, and with councils to throw the book at those who don’t live up to their responsibilities.” He added that with SAFEagent he was “delighted the lettings industry has taken matters into its own hands, and is launching a quality standard that will ensure that landlords and tenants know what to expect from their members.  These improvements could never be achieved by adding layers of pointless Government regulations.”      

He went on: “This is exactly the sort of measure the private rented sector needs – simple and sensible changes that are driven by industry and designed to deliver results.” The SAFEagent scheme has been mentioned in the House of Lords as an example of the kind of voluntary initiative the Government wants to see in raising standards. But mandatory regulation of the private rented sector was not ruled out. It happened during a debate on an amendment to the Localism Bill aiming to insert a new clause into the Bill that would enable the statutory regulation of private letting agents to be introduced at some point. The amendment was also supported by the British Property Property Federation, Residential Landlords Association and housing charities.           

Responding at the end of a lengthy debate, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, a Conservative peer and House of Lords whip, said: “I am delighted that the Government have been able to endorse the Safe Agent Fully Endorsed scheme – SAFE – recently launched by the industry which highlights a key risk around clients’ money. He went on: “I have considerable sympathy with those who have been caught out by bad practice, but we do not think that regulation now is the right answer.” September has been a good month for SAFEagent as apart from Government endorsement and passing 1200 agent registrations CFP Software, part of Guardian Media Group, is the latest industry supplier to offer its support to SAFEagent.  CFPwinMan is the most widely used lettings and property management software package across the UK and is installed in over 3,000 businesses, with tens of thousands of users. It is the first, and currently remains the only, property management software to be accredited by the ICAEW.

10Oct 2011

The Benefits of Regulated Letting Agents to Landlords and Tenants

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By Craig Smith

Wow, it seems like only  minutes ago that our blog was last updated but it is nearly 2 months already! Anyway, not too long ago I published a post raising some concerns that some people have with unregulated letting agents not being properly trained. Well, I can confirm that I have now passed all four of the ARLA Technical Award examinations which means that I will soon be able to become a member of ARLA!

Because of this, myself and one of our directors attended a regional ARLA meeting just last week. This is where members from the surrounding regions (in our case, Staffordshire and Shropshire) get together and discuss the latest legislation changes and ideas to promote our businesses and ensure that we always give the best and up to date advice.

Unregulated Agents Under-Cutting

One topic that was discussed was an unregulated agent who was seeing properties with a to let board and contacting the owner with false promises of having a tenant who is very interested. Of course, once a Landlord has moved to the agent the tenant has magically already found somewhere else but the agent has then gained (or in some peoples opinions stolen) the business from a professional organisation.

Sometimes a logo doesn’t mean much but a little homework can go a long way. For example, as you are reading this now, do you really know what ARLA means and how they look after both Tenants and Landlords? By being a member, an agent has to follow the codes of practice as set out by them which gives a more professional letting service and better management of a rental property.

Proper Training for Professionals

Another good service provided by ARLA is the training that they can provide. Not only the exams as we spoke about earlier, but training sessions throughout the country for different areas of property management. You might think that an agent should already know everything about everything but there is always something new on the horizon! Updates in law can determine whether a process needs to be changed or different advice needs to be given to a Landlord.

Of course, not every unregulated agent should be treated as cowboys, it always takes time to become established and better known in an area and also time to gain the experience needed. Unfortunately, like with most walks of life, it only takes a handful of the bad guys to give others a bad name.

Important Updates for Landlords

As mentioned earlier, it is important for Landlords and Agents alike to stay in the know of changes to legislation that may affect their rental properties. This is another benefit of being a member of a professional body as we found out last week with the changes to the payment of water rates for a rental property, more about this to come soon! 

07Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: SAFEagent(2): A story of continued growth

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By Mike Edwards

Registration for the new SAFEagent scheme has consistently outperformed projections and expectations.

In June, the first full month of receiving registrations, over 500 agents signed up, keen to differentiate themselves by promoting  a simple kite mark for the consumer to recognise letting firms that protect landlords’ and tenants’ money through Client Money Protection schemes. By the end of June the figure had risen to 750 and the 1000 members mark was passed in July. Only agents covered by a CMP scheme can join SAFEagent, making it a fairly exclusive club. As commented on in our last item on this subject the premiums for CMP are way beyond an individual agent and it is only by being part of a group policy that an agent can obtain the cover.               

The initiative, which will be promoted to consumers by the end of 2011 following the initial push to agents, has received widespread support, including from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and Trading Standards Institute (TPI) and more recently Shelter. Shelter is very supportive of the SAFEagent scheme claiming their research has found that one million private renters have been the victim of scams and they welcome any initiative that helps tenants to make safe choices when they are looking for private rented accommodation thus avoiding avoid unscrupulous letting agents and landlords. They would also like to see letting agents doing more to ensure tenants are well informed when they look for a private let, assuring tenants that their deposit will be protected, providing written tenancy agreements and carrying out inventories. A professional and properly run lettings agency would do this of course, and much more, including having transparent fees schedules which can also help tenants to size up the additional costs of renting a home. Such processes and procedures can help to avoid problems later on that can lead to tenancy breakdown and problems for Landlords and tenants alike – not to mention their agents!!         .

SAFEagent marks a huge leap forward in the effort to eliminate the potential threat posed to consumers by uninsured agents, who are able to operate in the private rented sector without Government intervention though SAFEagent has always hoped to obtain Government recognition for the new mark. Whilst NALS, the Property Ombudsman, Council of Mortgage Lenders and Residential Landlords Association have been quick to back the SAFE initiative, both the RICS and ARLA have been notably tepid in their reactions.
Meanwhile August saw The National Union of Students, Which? and Citizens Advice Bureau placing their enthusiastic endorsements alongside backers which already included the likes of Shelter, The Property Ombudsman and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Trading Standards and The Residential Landlords Association.             

With the private rented sector continuing to grow so quickly and with more and more people relying on the rented accommodation, it is vital to have mechanisms like SAFEagent in place to make lettings a safe and professional sector, and ensure that tenants are not left out of pocket. CAB of course has a long history of seeking to protect the interests of tenants in the private rented sector, who are often among those who can least afford to lose money to the unscrupulous and clearly will see the SAFEagent scheme as helping to steer tenants towards reputable letting agents who are properly insured. The UK’s largest supplier of referencing to the lettings industry, HomeLet, became the first UK supplier to align itself to the SAFEagent campaign promising to raise awareness of the SAFEagent mark among its clients and encourage them to get registered.             

The message ultimately to consumers looks a simple one: be safe choose a SAFEagent when you rent or let 

Registration for the new SAFEagent scheme has consistently outperformed projections and expectations.

In June, the first full month of receiving registrations, over 500 agents signed up, keen to differentiate themselves by promoting  a simple kite mark for the consumer to recognise letting firms that protect landlords’ and tenants’ money through Client Money Protection schemes. By the end of June the figure had risen to 750 and the 1000 members mark was passed in July. Only agents covered by a CMP scheme can join SAFEagent, making it a fairly exclusive club. As commented on in our last item on this subject the premiums for CMP are way beyond an individual agent and it is only by being part of a group policy that an agent can obtain the cover.               

The initiative, which will be promoted to consumers by the end of 2011 following the initial push to agents, has received widespread support, including from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and Trading Standards Institute (TPI) and more recently Shelter. Shelter is very supportive of the SAFEagent scheme claiming their research has found that one million private renters have been the victim of scams and they welcome any initiative that helps tenants to make safe choices when they are looking for private rented accommodation thus avoiding avoid unscrupulous letting agents and landlords. They would also like to see letting agents doing more to ensure tenants are well informed when they look for a private let, assuring tenants that their deposit will be protected, providing written tenancy agreements and carrying out inventories. A professional and properly run lettings agency would do this of course, and much more, including having transparent fees schedules which can also help tenants to size up the additional costs of renting a home. Such processes and procedures can help to avoid problems later on that can lead to tenancy breakdown and problems for Landlords and tenants alike – not to mention their agents!!         .

SAFEagent marks a huge leap forward in the effort to eliminate the potential threat posed to consumers by uninsured agents, who are able to operate in the private rented sector without Government intervention though SAFEagent has always hoped to obtain Government recognition for the new mark. Whilst NALS, the Property Ombudsman, Council of Mortgage Lenders and Residential Landlords Association have been quick to back the SAFE initiative, both the RICS and ARLA have been notably tepid in their reactions.
Meanwhile August saw The National Union of Students, Which? and Citizens Advice Bureau placing their enthusiastic endorsements alongside backers which already included the likes of Shelter, The Property Ombudsman and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Trading Standards and The Residential Landlords Association.             

With the private rented sector continuing to grow so quickly and with more and more people relying on the rented accommodation, it is vital to have mechanisms like SAFEagent in place to make lettings a safe and professional sector, and ensure that tenants are not left out of pocket. CAB of course has a long history of seeking to protect the interests of tenants in the private rented sector, who are often among those who can least afford to lose money to the unscrupulous and clearly will see the SAFEagent scheme as helping to steer tenants towards reputable letting agents who are properly insured. The UK’s largest supplier of referencing to the lettings industry, HomeLet, became the first UK supplier to align itself to the SAFEagent campaign promising to raise awareness of the SAFEagent mark among its clients and encourage them to get registered.             

The message ultimately to consumers looks a simple one: be safe choose a SAFEagent when you rent or let.

03Oct 2011

Property Landlord advice: SAFEagent (1) : New kitemark will 'clean up industry'

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By Mike Edwards

It is now 6 months since the first announcement of a new kitemark initiative for the lettings industry. Although I have previously commented on this initiative and expressed our wholehearted support for it much water has flowed under several bridges since the new kitemark initiative known as SAFEagent was launched for agent registration in May. It is free for agents in established client money protection (CMP) schemes to register, but just what is CMP? To the layperson in effect it is bonding, along the lines of ABTA where if your travel firm goes bust and they are ABTA bonded then ABTA steps in to bring you home.

CMP operates in the same way to protect Landlord and Tenant money held by agents with CMP cover. However the policy premium for CMP cover is eye wateringly expensive, and impossible for an individual agent or even a corporate chain to take out in their own name. So CMP cover is obtained by being a member of one of only 5 such group schemes in existence, these being administered by ARLA, NAEA, NALS, RICS and The Law Society. Because it is compulsory for CMP to be held by a member of SAFEagent so it follows that only members of the 5 organisations with the cover can become members. SAFEagent does not provide CMP itself and indeed to do so would be an expensive and unnecessary duplication as its members already have CMP in place.

SAFEagent was formed by a Steering Group of lettings agents and is administered by The National Approved Letting Scheme which in itself was created by the Government. It was the desire to deliver a simple message that led to the formation of SAFEagent – that by joining its members would have the means to differentiate those agents who operate with CMP and those who do not.           SAFE agent has some impressive friends and supporters. Apart from NALS which endorsed the scheme immediately and then offered to run the administration for it – an offer readily accepted by the Steering Group – the Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer also welcomed the initiative many months ago, as has the Residential Landlords Association who commended its “clear and recognisable brand”.           

The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) has bolstered the initiative with Ron Gainsford its chief executive endorsing the introduction and promotion of a single mark to identify letting agents who are in Client Money Protection insurance schemes. This is the objective of SAFEagent – that by having just one kitemark will increase recall levels of the scheme and enable consumers to make sensible and safe choices of letting agents based on a raised awareness of the importance of that agent being part of a Client Money Protection insurance scheme. This in turn of course will help trading standards services in the fight to reduce the number of rogue and ‘uninsured’ letting agents who disappear with consumer money – a move that all honest agents would support.        

However, of the industry organisations, only NALS has come forward to welcome the kitemark. NALS, NAEA and RICS have yet to give their support despite SAFEagent growing impressively as will be seen in the nest article on this subject.

30Sep 2011

Property Landlord Advice: Rents rising in August.

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By Mike Edwards

Rents rose by 1.2% in August – the largest monthly increase in a year – but tenant arrears increased for the first time since April, according to the latest buy-to-let Index from LSL Property Services plc. The average rent increase to £713 per month across England and Wales in August, surpassing the previous record high of £705 in July. This is the largest monthly increase since August 2010 with rents rising fastest in Wales and the South East, where both saw increases of 2.1%, closely followed by London (1.5%) and the South West (1.3%).

The only regions to see a monthly fall in rents were West and East Midlands where prices dropped by 0.4% compared to July. Annual figures show that London has seen the highest rental figures, with rents hitting a new record high of £1,025 per month in August, an annual growth of 6.6% equivalent to £63 per month. According to even more recent figures the average rent in Greater London according to tenant referencing specialist HomeLet has now increased to £1,202. This is an increase of 12.2% compared to the same time last year but over the same period; the average salary of tenants in the region has increased by just 2.4%.

LSL also report that annual returns on rental property improved in August after annual decreases in property prices slowed. The average total annual return in August rose to 2.6%, as capital losses diminish. However, there are signs that tenants are already feeling the strain of the rent rises as tenant arrears increased for the first time since April, with 10.7% of all UK rent unpaid or late by the end of August. This is up 9% compared to the previous month. Unpaid rent totaled £300 million across the UK in August, up 19.5% from the £251 million unpaid in July.

However, August figures always show an increase in arrears because the holiday season often takes its toll on tenant arrears, with many households squeezed by summer holiday spending. While arrears may be expected to fall back into line in the short-term, the growth is indicative of the mounting pressure facing tenants. With rents rising so quickly, soaring inflation and an uncertain economic outlook as evidenced by the recent turmoil yet again in the markets, over the long-term one can only anticipate that rental arrears will become a growing financial problem for landlords.

27Sep 2011

Property Landlord advice: Law of Agency must be understood.

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By Steve Roulstone

One of the basic but most important principles behind what we do as Letting Agents is the ‘Law of Agency’ which covers our responsibility to our Landlords. I have referred to this in my blogs before, but it is not something that is heavily reported on and a principle which I believe a large amount of Letting Agents do not understand. The basis behind the principle, is that Law of Agency describes our relationship with the Landlord, who, of course first and foremost are our customer, but it is the greater level of responsibility that Agent of the Landlord brings with it that is not understood.

The Landlord says so.

Under the Law of Agency, as long as what we are asked to do on behalf of the Landlord is legal, we must follow the instruction, in exactly the manner in which the Landlord asks us so to do. It is not that difficult to understand and if you look up the meaning of the word Agency in Wikipedia and you will understand that this is not just a wording that describes a Supplier and Customer relationship, rather one that carries a very specific requirement on behalf of the Agent, in the eyes of the law.

So often comes to mind.

It is not difficult therefore to imagine scenarios in our industry where problems can occur and because it is something that I repeatedly quote when discussing cases with our own office in Stafford, it is never far from my mind. The latest scenario surrounds two Landlords who have changed their mind over what they expected from their Tenants when they were vacating property at the end of Tenancies and whilst it would be wrong to go into any detail at all, both surrounded a change of mind in what they expected the Tenants to do.

Tenants are correct!

The problem being that it falls upon us to carry out the Landlords wishes, providing they do not break any law, to the full. So even though we know what we are requesting is incorrect, we must still carry this through. Of course should the Tenant then come back to us and state that we know the opposite to what we are asking, it is still our role to confirm the Landlords wishes and at no point should we show any indication or make any statement that the Tenant is correct in what they say.

Deposit system.

 Of course the problem becomes a little more relevant when the request surrounds the Deposit and what the Landlord is requesting has financial implications, but no matter! Under such circumstances it is a very small leap to a disputed Deposit and all the work encompassed within the system for the Agent. So here we are, knowing that the decisions made by the Landlord are probably going to lead to his losing his case (or of course it could and so often is the other way round!) but we still have to go through the process and present the case in the best interest of the Landlord and that is what the Law of Agency is all about! But should we openly tell the Tenant the Landlord is wrong, or ever be seen to place the interest of the Tenant above the interest of the Landlord then we place ourselves in a position where we can be pursued legally, for breaking our role as agent of the Landlord! This is what is not understood, in my belief by so many Letting Agencies in this Country.

 Purjery!

Of course, even though we may disagree and know that the claim is not correct in its substance, we do not have to perjure ourselves, because should the matter become legal or even subject of a counter claim by the Tenant, when asked what happened behind the situation, we do then have the opportunity to tell it as it is. I have known a situation where legal representation on behalf of a Tenant asked for a written statement from the Agent and of course in sending the statement (which confirmed the Landlord had changed his mind over approval of decoration) the Tenant’s case was proven.

Principle holds.

The point is that in asking for the money from the Tenant we are following the Landlords wishes, and that is what we must do, when asked to confirm what we knew of the situation (by somebody such as a TDS adjudicator) we of course tell the truth as I for one would never perjure myself, but with an eye to the Law of agency, I will advise the Landlord of my feelings and point out that should I be asked what I knew of the circumstances, I would only tell it as it is!