Administration error and poor service

Key topic:

Administration and poor service

£912

Early resolution

he had used the agent on a ‘let-only’ basis for years and was generally happy with their service
due to an administrative error by the agent, the tenant only signed a six-month fixed term contract instead of a 12 month contract and the tenant left the property at the end of the six months
the tenant caused damage the property to such an extent that it cost far more that the £1050 deposit to put it right
the agent’s mistake resulted in additional costs:

in finding another tenant after only six months
instructing a contractor to sort out the repairs which only became apparent after the tenancy ended, which took time to employ and carry out

had he been better prepared for the tenant leaving, he could have avoided these additional costs and had a replacement tenant lined up
he wants compensation for sourcing an unsuitable tenant, issuing the incorrect tenancy agreement. and allowing damage to to the property resulting in loss of rent due to time it took to carry out repairs and re-let the property

proper referencing was carried out on the tenant, which all came back fine, and rent was fully paid throughout
they accept that an administrative error was made but the landlord should have checked the tenancy agreement
as the error went unnoticed by both the landlord and agent, they cannot be held solely responsible
they have offered to refund the landlord 50% of their agency fee which the landlord said was unacceptable as he felt his losses were much higher

Tenancy agreement, emails, contractor's invoices

Quality of tenant and damage

employed by the landlord on a ‘let only’ basis
was responsible for making sure the tenants were suitable for the property and there was no evidence to suggest any issue with the referencing process
not managing the property, so could not be responsible for any damage caused by the tenant during the tenancy

Even if the tenancy was a 12-month fixed term contract, the landlord may still have had to carry out repairs and cover the costs of the mortgage, utilities and council tax before re-marketing and, or letting to a new tenant

Tenancy agreement

The agent accepted making an error in issuing the wrong tenancy agreement. This caused their client considerable inconvenience, who had to go through the re-letting process six months earlier than expected, at additional cost
Through the early resolution discussions, the landlord accepted he could have checked the tenancy agreements although there had been no problem in the past
The agent offered to refund the full agency fee to the landlord, putting him back in the position he was in before instructing them, which was accepted by the landlord

Mistakes happen. Agents should accept making any errors and work to ease their client’s losses if possible
Both parties should be willing to discuss the situation with the aim of reaching a compromise to prevent the complaint becoming formal and pro-longed, causing more inconvenience
It is best practice for landlords to check their tenancy agreements in let-only and fully-managed tenancies for any discrepancy and query anything they are unsure about

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For more information on how to make an apology, read our guide here.

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