Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by Property118. Read the original article for full details.
Landlord Exits Letting Agent Over Missed Inspections and Exit Fee
A landlord is leaving their letting agent and transferring to another after the agent carried out only one property inspection in three years, when inspections were supposed to take place every six months. The landlord also says the agent has charged six weeks' rent as an exit fee.
According to the account published by Property118, the landlord's insurance requires a six-monthly inspection of the property. The agent is said to have checked on the property only once over the three-year period.
The landlord states that the agent claims something in relation to the exit fee, although the source excerpt does not set out the agent's full position. The post is framed around the question of what happens when a letting agent fails the landlord they act for.
Why This Matters for Letting Agents and Inventory Clerks
The account covers two areas that letting agents and inventory clerks deal with routinely: the scheduling and recording of periodic property inspections, and the terms under which a landlord can exit an agency agreement.
For agencies, inspection frequency is often tied to a landlord's insurance conditions, as described in this case. Where a landlord's policy requires inspections at set intervals, missed visits can become a source of dispute and, as here, a reason for the landlord to move to another agent.
Exit fees are also in focus. The landlord says a charge of six weeks' rent was applied on leaving the agent. The source does not state the basis on which the agent says the fee is owed, nor whether the landlord disputes it formally.
The source is a first-person account and does not include a response from the agent named in the matter, nor any figures beyond those described above. Letting agents and inventory clerks may wish to review how inspection schedules are agreed, evidenced and communicated to landlords, and how termination terms are set out in agency agreements.
Source: Property118