Landlords - Terms & Conditions




	RESIDENTIAL LETTINGS LANDLORDS STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY INSPECTION AND VALUATION Upon receiving instructions one of our Valuers will inspect your property and advise upon the rental value. PARTICULARS AND ADVERTISING Letting Particulars will be prepared and prospective Tenants on our Register contacted straight away. We will also advertise in the Local Press and on the internet through our website and www.rightmove.co.uk. REFERENCES TAKEN Applicants will be invited to view your property and complete an application form. All suitable applicants are interviewed and Status and Character references obtained together with a credit search. Provided these references are satisfactory we will prepare and arrange for the Tenancy Agreements to be signed. DEPOSIT TAKEN The Tenant will be required to pay a Holding Deposit equal to one month’s rent plus one month’s rent in advance. On signing the Tenancy Agreement the Holding Deposit then becomes the “Tenancy Deposit”. RENT AND LEGAL INSURANCE As a safety measure to guarantee the regular payment of the rent we recommend that you take out insurance covering the rental payment plus any legal fees. INVENTORY AND TDSRA We will prepare a Schedule of Condition and an Inventory for furnished properties which the incoming Tenant will sign on entry. This will be checked at the end of the tenancy and both Landlord and Tenant agree in respect of our policy towards compensation charges for dilapidations. In the event of an unresolved dispute we refer you to Appendix A attached to these terms. MANAGEMENT SERVICE Regular inspections and personal rent collection if late. Repair and maintenance in accordance with your instructions. Ensurance that all GAS and ELECTRICAL Safety Test Certificates will be issued in accordance with recent legislation. Deal with reclamation of tax for TAX exempt overseas Clients. Provide Statements for accountancy purposes. Serve Notice of Possession if required. TERM We recommend six (6) months initially, but 12 months or longer can be agreed. MORTGAGES You must obtain permission from your Building Society or Bank prior to Letting. BUILDINGS INSURANCE Insurance Companies must be notified of your intentions. INTEREST EARNED Any interest earned by the Agents on the rental payment and deposit whilst they are held in the Agent’s Clients’ Bank Account shall be retained as part of the Management Fees. LEGAL FEES As Chartered Surveyors we will professionally manage your property. In the unlikely event of having to ask a Tenant to leave we will serve the Notice of Possession. If the Tenants refuse to go there is a relatively quick action that can be taken through the Court. The Landlord is responsible to pay for this. This is why we recommend that you take out Rent and Legal Protection Insurance. TENANCY DEPOSIT SCHEME 1. THE TENANCY DEPOSIT. The Agent is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme which is administered by: The Dispute Service Ltd P.O. Box 541 AMERSHAM Bucks HP6 6ZR Tel. 0845 226 7837 E-mail deposits@tds.gb.com Fax. 01494 431 123 2. If we the Agent are instructed by you the Landlord to hold the Deposit, we shall do so under the terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. 3. The Agent holds tenancy deposits as Stakeholder. 4. At the end of the tenancy covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme 4.1. If there is no dispute we the Agent will keep any amounts agreed as deductions where expenditure has been incurred on behalf of the Landlord, or repay the whole or the balance of the Deposit according to the conditions of the Tenancy Agreement with the Landlord and the Tenant. Payment of the Deposit will be made within ten (10) working days of written consent from both parties. 4.2. If, after ten (10) working days following notification of a dispute to the Agent/Member and reasonable attempts have been made in that time to resolve any differences of opinion, there remains an unresolved dispute between the Landlord and the Tenant over the allocation of the Deposit it will (subject to 4.3 below) be submitted to the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) for adjudication. All parties agree to co-operate with any adjudication. 4.3. When the amount in dispute is over £5,000 the Landlord and the Tenant will agree by signing the Tenancy Agreement to submit the dispute to formal arbitration through the engagement of an arbitrator appointed by the ICE although, with the written consent of both parties, the ICE may at his discretion accept the dispute for adjudication. The appointment of an arbitrator will incur an administration fee, to be fixed by the Board of The Dispute Service Ltd from time to time, shared equally between the Landlord and the Tenant. The liability for any subsequent costs will be dependent upon the award made by the arbitrator. 4.4. The statutory rights of either you the Landlord or the Tenant(s) to take legal action against the other party remain unaffected. 4.5. It is not compulsory for the parties to refer the dispute to the ICE for adjudication. The parties may, if either party chooses to do so seek the decision of the Court. However, this process may take longer and may incur further costs. Judges may, because it is a condition of the Tenancy Agreement signed by both parties, refer the dispute back to the ICE for adjudication. If the parties do agree that the dispute should be resolved by the ICE, they must accept the decision of the ICE as final and binding. 4.6. If there is a dispute we must remit to The Dispute Service Ltd the full deposit, less any amounts already agreed by the parties and paid over to them. This must be done within ten (10) working days of being told that a dispute has been registered whether or not you or we want to contest it. Failure to do so will not delay the adjudication but The Dispute Service Ltd will take appropriate action to recover the deposit and discipline us. 4.7. The Agent must co-operate with the ICE in the adjudication of the dispute and follow any recommendations concerning the method of the resolution of the dispute. 5. Incorrect Information The Landlord warrants that all the information he has provided to the Agent is correct to the best of his knowledge and belief. In the event that the Landlord provides incorrect information to the Agent which causes the Agent to suffer loss or causes legal proceedings to be taken the Landlord agrees to reimburse and compensate the Agent for all losses suffered. 6. If you the Landlord decide to hold the Deposit yourself, we will transfer it to you within five (5) days of receiving it. You the Landlord must then register it with another Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme within a further nine (9) days if the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. If you fail to do so the Tenant can take legal action against you the Landlord in the County Court. The Court will make an order stating that you the Landlord must pay the Deposit back to the Tenant or lodge it with the custodial scheme which is known as the Deposit Protection Scheme. In addition a further order will be made requiring you the Landlord to pay compensation to the Tenant of an amount equal to three (3) times the Deposit. You the landlord will be unable to serve a Section 21 Notice on your Tenant until compliance with the above conditions and the Court will not grant you the landlord a possession order. We the Agent have no liability for any loss suffered if you the landlord fail to comply. OR If you the Landlord decide to hold the Deposit and the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy you the Landlord must specify to us the Agent prior to the start of the Tenancy under which other Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme the Deposit will be covered. If the Deposit is covered by Tenancy Deposit Solutions you the Landlord must provide proof of membership, together with a copy of the insurance policy before the Deposit can be released. If the Deposit is to be sent to the custodial scheme known as the Deposit Protection Scheme the Agent will forward the Deposit to the DPS and register the details of the Tenancy on your behalf OR give you a cheque for the amount of the Deposit made payable to the Deposit Protection Scheme for you to forward within nine (9) days. LETTING FEES 1. Our fee for providing this service on the basis that we are instructed to carry out ongoing management of the property amounts to £157.50 including disbursements plus Value Added Tax. The Landlord pays half share of preparation of agreement which is £52.50 plus Value Added Tax and the renewal of the agreement is £31.50 plus value added tax. The fees are deducted from the first month’s rent. 2. Some experienced professional Landlords prefer to manage their properties themselves. Where they do so our fees for the above will amount to 10% of the annual rent including disbursements plus Value Added Tax. If they wish us to hold the Tenancy Deposit under the TDSRA a further administration fee of £20 plus Value Added Tax will be charged. 3. Should the property be withdrawn from our agency prior to completing the Letting of the property our fees and expenses will be charged and will be dependent upon the stage reached but subject to a maximum of £160.00 plus Value Added Tax. MANAGEMENT FEES We deduct 10% of the rent collected plus Value Added Tax and pay the rent out to the Landlord by quarterly cheques (or if preferred on a monthly basis by Lloyds TSB electronic telepay system).