Deed of surrender – agent says I don’t need one?

Deed of surrender – agent says I don’t need one?

0:01 AM, 30th July 2024, About A day ago 15

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Hi, How can my agent think emails between myself and my tenant are sufficient when agreeing an early release from a tenancy? My tenant has been obstructive with regards access and I’ve had numerous issues, property damage etc.

I will be happy to agree an early release (with a deed of surrender) and will self manage or sell.

This is an 18 month fixed term with 10 months remaining AST.

The tenant has indicated he is searching for a larger property. The agent advised there will be stipulations on the check out, paying all utility bills, leaving the property clean etc before leaving.

Agent will ask for a forwarding address and if this is false and there are issues, it will be dealt with by the debt collector!

Surely by this point my agent will be long gone and my contract with them.

Am I overthinking this?

I do not trust my tenant and my agent is not particularly thorough and diligent.

Please can you advise me?

Thank you,

Alison


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Dennis Forrest

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15:52 PM, 30th July 2024, About 16 hours ago

I recently cancelled a tenancy agreement with my agent when I transferred a tenanted property to my son. My son understandably did not want to carry on paying the agent 8% + vat just for collecting the rent. The agents standard terms was a £600 cancellation fee to cancel the agreement with the agent which I paid. If the agent were to raise an invoice for say £50, dated and also detailed as an Agency Termination Fee which is then promptly paid then this ought to be sufficient proof that the agreement with the agent has been cancelled.

Judith Wordsworth

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16:41 PM, 30th July 2024, About 16 hours ago

Need one or not get one signed and dated

DPT

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18:26 PM, 30th July 2024, About 14 hours ago

Reply to the comment left by Rob Crawford at 30/07/2024 - 10:11
Your response is not correct. A deed is a specific form of agreement which has to be witnessed and executed, (not just given).

A court may consider a simple exchange of emails enough for an express surrender, particularly if the tenant has handed back the keys, but a wily tenant could probably persuade a judge that they were planning to return and had never intended to surrender the tenancy.

Geoff1975

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21:54 PM, 30th July 2024, About 10 hours ago

I think agreements involving property generally have to be a deed with some exceptions I.e. tenancy agreement which is not a deed. But ending a tenancy early should technically be via a deed. An email exchange even if it says deed of surrender isn’t a deed. A deed needs to be witnessed. It’s a simply process so don’t take any chances and just do the deed of surrender. Of course estate agents take chances and get away with it most of the time because a tenant says they want to go and landlord agrees so usually that’s it. But what if you agree to let tenant go then they don’t like something regarding deposit deduction and decide to be awkward and decide it was actually an illegal eviction as the tenancy wasn’t ended correctly, after they talk to a left wing solicitor from shelter. They hate landlords. Don’t take the chance
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/execution-of-deeds/practice-guide-8-execution-of-deeds#:~:text=A%20deed%20may%20be%20validly,Miscellaneous%20Provisions)%20Act%201989).

Alison Clark

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7:52 AM, 31st July 2024, About 30 minutes ago

Reply to the comment left by Geoff1975 at 30/07/2024 - 21:54
Thank you.

I have requested details from the agent regarding a deed and their charges! I’ll let you know Geoff.

Thank you to you everyone who responded.

Alison

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