Ama
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18 Posts
I am having problems obtaining vacant possession of my property and detaching myself from the letting agent who placed the tenant in there.
Over 5 years ago I agreed for the agent to place an emergency housing tenant in my property. The agent has an agreement with the council and informed me at the time that gaining possession would be really straight forward, taking between two weeks and a month. This was appealing to me at the time because I had lost a great deal of money using the courts and bailiffs to evict a non-paying tenant.
No written agreement with the agent was put in place at the time. However in an attempt to gain clarity of responsibilities I have made numerous requests for clarity over the years, however the information hasn’t been forthcoming.
This summer I requested repossession of my property and the agent stated the property should be vacated on 7th November. This date came and went and when the tenant was contacted directly it turned out that they knew nothing of the repossession request.
When challenged the agent’s reply was to reiterate that the tenant SHOULD have vacated but hasn’t.
I had sent the agent a formal letter of complaint in the summer, but this has come to nought. As far as I can see the agent is not affiliated with any of the UK redress schemes and there is zero reference to a complaints procedure on their website.
I had hoped that the repossession of my property on the 7th November would also mark the end of my dealings with the agent. Unfortunately, I still need to do both.
I am now in contact with the council directly to find out how and when I can evict the tenant, in the meantime I want to rid myself of the agent. This agent answered my latest request for the details of their dealings with me and my property with a general statement. In short they state that a contract does not have to be written to be binding and there is an oral contract in place.
Short of winding back the clock and doing things properly any suggestions or words of advice on my next steps. Also can anyone recommend a legal person to help me navigate this mess I got myself into.
