Letting Agent Charging Part of Deposit as an Admin Fee?

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

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My mother in law rented a house and having left got her deposit back minus an "Admin Fee"

She questioned it and was told it was in their terms and conditions so she didn't question it. My wife just mentioned it the other day and i always thought this wasn't allowed but have struggled to find anything online.

I've not seen the paperwork yet but planned on going round to have a look but wanted to check with the experts of OCUK before i started questioning things.

Is this something they're allowed to do? I know she paid the admin fee at the start of the rental as is usual but this seems a bit excessive.
 
Yeah i'm going round tomorrow night so will speak to her then and have asked her for a photo of the contract in the meantime.

I wasn't sure if there was some kind of fee to use the deposit scheme that she was expected to pay.
 
Could it be because the admin fee wasn't actually paid at the start of the contract?

Otherwise I can't see what they are doing being right, sounds bs.
 
Nope, i know she paid the admin fee as i was there when it was paid.

Just reading this and wonder if it's related? if it's a fee to protect the deposit then it looks like it could be allowed. I'm not sure of the amount at this point. But i'd have thought this fee would be paid upfront.

Charging the tenant
If you feel it necessary to charge the tenant for protecting their deposit, there are strict rules for doing this.

According to Advertising Standards Authority, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the details of any fees that may be charged must be clearly defined by the agent. If the exact amount of the fee isn’t certain, then they should explain precisely how the fee will be calculated.

The main thing is that landlords and tenants should understand why every fee is being charged, and knowing how the costs are calculated. So if you wish to charge a tenant to offset the cost of deposit protection then it should be in the contract and the cost should be explained.

How much should be charged?
There is no definitive cost or rule you follow. We would recommend that you don’t mark up the cost to cover the ‘work’ of protecting the deposit. The tenant can easily discover the real cost and it can immediately sour your relationship.
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I would get them to point out the exact part of the contract where it was stipulated they would take an admin fee at the end of the tenancy. Otherwise threaten to dispute that they haven't refunded her entire deposit, start talking about the protection scheme etc. If it turns out they didn't put it in a protection scheme then they'll be in trouble and she could end up with all of it back by default, plus 30% (I think?).

And I'd remind them that legislation is currently being drafted to stop the scum-sucking parasites from doing this sort of thing, and if that's the only way they can make any money then they'd better start re-assessing their business as a whole. Meh.
 
Scam said:
If it turns out they didn't put it in a protection scheme then they'll be in trouble and she could end up with all of it back by default, plus 30% (I think?)
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I'm sure i read somewhere you could get 3x deposit back which would be a huge bonus if true!
 
Deposit should've been protected so they shouldn't have been taking any 'admin fee' as far as i'm aware. If it was put into a protection scheme your mother in law should've received details of it, if it wasn't put into a protection scheme I believe you can take it further and get more cash back.

Letting agents in being scumbags shocker.
 
As above if it was in a protected scheme there shouldn't have been any admin fees (given you didn't cause damage that needed repair).

It sounds like the terms and conditions are a bit dodgy but probably legal in some way or another or chances are someone would have done something about it already. But just in case have a look.
 
What does her tenancy agreement say? Some letting agents charge a "check out fee" separate from the initial "admin fee" when you sign up.

They are unscrupulous. Can't wait for the fees to be banned (currently in parliament), not that it helps your mum.
 
NewGamer11 said:
They are unscrupulous. Can't wait for the fees to be banned (currently in parliament), not that it helps your mum.
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It amuses me how landlords and agencies ultimately ruin it for themselves - ultimately they just bring regulation down on themselves that could have been avoided if they acted a little less short-sightedly.
 
Rroff said:
It amuses me how landlords and agencies ultimately ruin it for themselves - ultimately they just bring regulation down on themselves that could have been avoided if they acted a little less short-sightedly.
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Yep, if they charged, say, £100 + damage deposit to cover viewings, online credit check, following up references (doubt they do this anyway) and changing the names on the tenancy agreement and printing it people would moan but probably accept it but when it's getting to £300 - £400+ it's a joke. Additionally, they are providing a service to the landlord not the tenant anyway so should the tenant really be the one to pay?
 
Rroff said:
It amuses me how landlords and agencies ultimately ruin it for themselves - ultimately they just bring regulation down on themselves that could have been avoided if they acted a little less short-sightedly.
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Quite,

I had a couple of viewings in London through Foxtons a few years back, they were charging over £400 to set the contract up, I told them to swivel - they're all scum.

Get this - One agency (who wanted to renew my contract for another 12 months) tried to charge me an admin fee of £15 simply because I was paying with a different debit card than the one I used previously..

It's no wonder the government have finally decided to actually take action, because they're just trying to take money off people for absolutely nothing at all.
 
As a landlord myself I hate these practices by letting agents and despite what some may think landlords don't profit from it.

In point MOST decent landlords should and would be against it. Why the hell would I want to **** off someone who is going to be living in a substantial investment of mine?

I applied pressure last year to my agency to drop the renewal fees for one of my tenants because it would involve them leaving my property and going elsewhere. Not only did they love living in my house but they looked after it as well.

The sooner regulations start to limit, remove and restrict these practices the better for all ( apart from the agent)
 
That’s the issue. Estate agents will start going bust because they rely on scalping people with these fees. They’re not selling as many houses now so less fees.
 
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