Landlords could reclaim thousands from letting agents
Buy to let landlords in Nottingham may be able to reclaim hundreds of thousands of pounds paid in commission to letting agents, following a ruling by the High Court.
Mr Justice Mann said that terms and conditions drawn up by the letting agency Foxtons were unfair and contained “traps and time bombs” for landlords.
The terms required landlords to pay substantial commission when a tenant remained in a property after the initial period of tenancy had expired – even if Foxtons played no part in persuading the tenant to stay and did nothing to collect the rent or manage the property.
Other unfair terms included requiring a landlord to pay commission even after the property had been sold and allowing Foxtons to receive a full estate agent’s commission for sale of the property to a tenant.
Mr Justice Mann held that the terms were unfair because they put the consumer – the landlord – at a disadvantage and had not been properly highlighted when the agreements were drawn up. He said a typical consumer would be unlikely to read standard terms very carefully and would not expect important conditions to be slipped into the small print.
The case was brought by the Office of Fair Trading.
Emma Dancer of Andersons solicitors in Nottingham said Foxtons were not the only letting agents to have terms of this kind and so the ruling was a major boost for private landlords.
“Buy to let landlords who have unwittingly entered into unfair agreements of this kind may now have a good chance of recovering some of the money they have paid in commissions.”
Emma Dancer is a Commercial & Residential Property Partner at Andersons Solicitors she can be contacted on 0115 988 6722 or by emailing: edancer@andersonssolicitors.co.uk
Mr Justice Mann said that terms and conditions drawn up by the letting agency Foxtons were unfair and contained “traps and time bombs” for landlords.
The terms required landlords to pay substantial commission when a tenant remained in a property after the initial period of tenancy had expired – even if Foxtons played no part in persuading the tenant to stay and did nothing to collect the rent or manage the property.
Other unfair terms included requiring a landlord to pay commission even after the property had been sold and allowing Foxtons to receive a full estate agent’s commission for sale of the property to a tenant.
Mr Justice Mann held that the terms were unfair because they put the consumer – the landlord – at a disadvantage and had not been properly highlighted when the agreements were drawn up. He said a typical consumer would be unlikely to read standard terms very carefully and would not expect important conditions to be slipped into the small print.
The case was brought by the Office of Fair Trading.
Emma Dancer of Andersons solicitors in Nottingham said Foxtons were not the only letting agents to have terms of this kind and so the ruling was a major boost for private landlords.
“Buy to let landlords who have unwittingly entered into unfair agreements of this kind may now have a good chance of recovering some of the money they have paid in commissions.”
Emma Dancer is a Commercial & Residential Property Partner at Andersons Solicitors she can be contacted on 0115 988 6722 or by emailing: edancer@andersonssolicitors.co.uk
Labels: east midalnds, experts, nottingham, residential property, solicitors
posted by Andersons Solicitors Nottingham @ 9:39 am
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