Is my letting agent responsible for a poor repair?

Is my letting agent responsible for a poor repair?

0:02 AM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago 8

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Hello, I’m looking for advice from Property118 readers regarding a situation I have with my letting agent in Scotland, and I live in England.

At the beginning of the year, my tenant complained there was a leak each time it was rainy and windy outside. I treated it as an emergency repair and asked my letting agent to find a roofer to sort it. This took several weeks, she really struggled finding one, so I joined the search for a roofer too. After about a month, I found one, she found one. Since she told me that the roofer that I found was rude to her, and didn’t seem very reliable based on the interaction he had with myself either, I decided to go with her roofer.

She told me that the roofer asked for the money to be paid immediately, so I had to send her the money. On the same day as the roofer finished the work, she sent me the invoice, and pictures with the work done and asked me if I’m ok for her to release the funds. Since the work seemed done, I agreed.

The problem is that next week, the tenants complained again about the same leak, so the problem hasn’t actually been sorted. I asked her to contact the roofer and sort it out. She said yes, but after that it was silence so I just assumed the problem was sorted. This week, many months later, I found out that my tenant is leaving because the problem with the roof wasn’t sorted yet!

My question is: Would I be unreasonable to log a complaint with my letting agent, giving her a deadline, and asking her to either sort out the issue or give me back the money paid to the roofer plus the financial loss I’m having from my tenant leaving?

Your thoughts would be really appreciated, as I have very little experience as a landlady.


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Blodwyn

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11:17 AM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

Contract?
Speak to a preferably local Scottish solicitor who does this work? They may even know the agent and the roofer?

Judith Wordsworth

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11:24 AM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

Did your tenant complain to the letting agent that the leak hadn't been fixed?

Did they not let you know?

Did you not confirm with them that all was well?

Buck always stops with the landlord but if your agent didn't inform you that the problem hadn't been resolved, and you would need to get that in writing from your tenant(s), your letting agent may be in breach of contract (read your agreement) for not informing you.

You might possibly need to find new management though, if going the breach of contract route.

Did the roofer guarantee their work? Roofers I use do.
What were the works carried out?
Was the invoice in your name from them?
If so, then contact them direct and make a claim under their guarantee.
If they don't/or refuse to return to rectify then option of small claims court.

But you say you have left it many months, how many months?

Do you have legal cover?

Pamthomp33

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11:53 AM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

If you have employed the letting agent as full management, that is what you should get, including the agent checking the work before releasing the cash. I have found that agents rarely do that these days (annoyingly), so it is down to the landlord to check with the tenant if all OK and for the tenant to report an ongoing problem. Did the tenant get back to the agent to chase them? They could have contacted you directly if no success with agent.
Maybe the tenant could be partly to blame as it is up to them to keep the property in good repair and notify landlord or agent of any problems, even if ongoing.

David Smith

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11:53 AM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

It sounds like you’re managing your property anyway!!!
Get rid of the agents and save yourself havtto pay their fees.

Graham Bowcock

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13:45 PM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

From what you say it's not unreasonable to log a complaint, although from experience things like this are rarely black and white. Roof repairs can be complex so it's possible that there was no guarantee of any repair, depending on the nature and age of the roof. We have some old roofs where all the roofers can do is rearrange the deckchairs!
Get the full low down from the agent (and maybe the tenant) before being too critical.
What is the agent oblied to do under your management contract?:
My agency can struggle with roof repairs due to a shortage of contractors. UUnder our monthly management fee we only include "running repairs" so if complex works are required we would charge extra or possibly use a building surveyor.
One of our issues is that we forbid the use of ladders, other than for a short period of time (this is strong H&S advice) so many roofers do not want to work safely.

Mark Smith

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16:25 PM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

As far as the tenant is concerned the contract is with you so you are responsible. The agent is merely a person acting for and you and on your behalf.

Was the contract for repairs between you and the roofer or between you and the agent. Do you even know? Was the agent acting on your behalf to find and get a contracter. Or did you contract with the agent for repairs and they employed the roofer as a subcontractor. This is a very important difference.

You need to know this stuff. If you take on an agent to get off the hook about sorting out the legal stuff and red tape you made a big mistake. You need to know and make those decisions yourself. Your agent CAN be a useful administrator to save you time but YOU need to know the law and check they are getting stuff done. you may be able to recover some losses from the agent depending on the contract you have with them but if it is their own contract they are usually very good at covering their butts against this sort of claim.
Get you contact with the agent out and read it and see what is whose responsibility. It is a bit alarming you entered into such a contract without knowing this

Teessider

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19:11 PM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

You chose the roofer and you accepted the work was complete.

Who’s to say this isn’t a different leak?

It’s hard to say if the work was done correctly as you don’t always know where the leak is coming from. It may only be evident on rainy days with the wind in a particular direction.

SimonP

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23:42 PM, 8th September 2023, About A year ago

I now find my own contractors since my Letting Agent inserted in their T&C that they require a commission of up to 24% of all charges by contractors that they appoint.

Their wording also implied that they would do the same in respect of my own contractors but confirmed in an email that they would not do that. They'd better not.

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