Can an estate Agent refuse to contact a landlord ?

[katekoala]

Seems a rather strange thing to do ... I am looking for a property for myself, partner and labrador ... I have contacted various estate agents to enquire about pets - however I am being repeatedly told they wont do that, and their process is to get us to viw the house, if we like it apply for it, go through all the checks and pay fees - then if we pass - then they will tell the landlord!! If they say no, then I will get a refund .....

This seems absurd to me, as well as a horrendous waste of time (plus I could potentially end up with multiple credit checks) and still no house at the end of it ...

I have 4 weeks to find a house, and I cannot believe that estate agents are flat out refusing to contact the land lord first about pets ...

[boxtops]

I would have hoped that from the outset, the landlord would have stated to the estate agent whether or not pets are permitted.

Why don't you look in your local paper for private lets, in the short term? then you can contact the letter directly from the outset.

[cathfromsaron]

sound like they are not interested!

yes, i would advertise *mature lady with well behaved labby needs two bed house, refs and deposit waiting* or whatever, and let them come to you!

cath x

[starone]

The estate agent is trying to sell/rent a house for his paying customer. You should not be paying him anything. He will do all that is required to sell/rent the house. All you should be losing is time to look around - and sometimes that can be quite interesting. What are you paying for? At the moment I am in the procss of selling my house and I pay nothing until he has sold it for me and then I only pay a percentage of the price no matter how long it has been on his books and how much effort he has put into it. In fact I am wondering how he manages to make a profit.

[boxtops]

It's different with lettings though, starby - the agents only put forward potential tenants who pass credit checks etc., otherwise it's wasting the landlord's time.

[EvianBaby]

Very different from all my experience.

I'm moving into a new rented house next week and when I was searching the thing at the top of my list was that I needed to be allowed to have my cat in wherever I lived. I contact the agents of every house I liked and this was always one of the first questions I asked. In every single case they could tell me yes or no straight away. Some said that if the house was on the market for a long time the LL might change their minds and allow a pet but never once was I told I needed to pay the fee's before they would check on pets.

Don't do it, unless you can get from them in writing before that your fee will be refunded if the LL won't allow pets. Sounds iffy to me though. My fee for this house was £240. Not an amount of money I'd be willing to risk on a 'maybe'.

[RATTER15]

We have a similar problem looming, only we have 4 dogs and all the estate agents are saying we need to pay a load of money up front, we may also look at renting privately.

[starone]

I see, - I didn't know this. Sounds very complicated to me. Glad I am not in the market to rent then.

[katekoala]

I have been told that the 'fees' will be refunded if the landlord then says no - but like I said - what an utter waste of time ... going through a viewing the an application if the property is unsuitabel for my requirements - and all it would take is one simple question ??

Mad - well, I have emailed a complaint to the estate agents and informed them that I will be knocking on the door anyway, as its round the corner ...

Some estate agents are fine, and either stipulate 'no pets' or 'pets considered' initially - but to refuse to ring first ?????

[flump1]

Most estate agents have lists of preferences , conditions and restrictions supplied by the owners. I would not part with these " admin fees " at all until you have the ok from them that you have been accepted and can proceed. Have a look on rightmove.co.uk.easy to use site and usually in the property description it states the rental conditions.

[arwyn]

Kate, my son was told that these fees are not refundable. He had to pay £150 for them to check him out. If they found he was a bad risk he would get no refund.

[katekoala]

Thanks for that arwyn -- the estate agent said they would be refundable ... but even if they were... they are missing the point that this would potentially delay me being able to apply for a rental property that is actually suitable --- plus I could end up with multiple unneccesary credit checks if they were all to do that ... I use rightmove anyway - and most inform upfront if 'no pets' so I can stay clear - but like I said, its the ones that dont stipulate at all, or say 'pets considered' therefore I need to ask in advance otherwise - why even bother viewing - let alone apply ???

Looks like its just a case of a few lazy estate agents !