Amal
0 Thanks
21 Posts
Further to my previous inquiry. (as i do not know how to follow it, when i reply I lose everything so please go back to my previous post) After I approached the Agent and asked if I can stop paying them commission after 5 years. They refused and said it was a breach of the terms and conditions. So I asked the tenant to pay the agent (he pays quarterly ) the agent used to deduct the commission quarterly as for the last 5 years. Now they deducted a whole year knowing that I was going to ask the tenant to pay me direct. They deducted a year's commission and supposedly as a good will they will not take any more commission if the tenant remains in my property. I sent them a letter threatening to take them to court as I am soooo angry that they did that. Do I have a leg to stand on?
P.S. The Agent was a small company that have now have joined a big company in central London W1. I have just read some terms and conditions they are as follows:
"6.3 The Agent’s commission in respect of arranging the tenancy shall be payable in full at the
commencement of the tenancy and the Agent shall be entitled to receive the entirety of the
first month’s rent towards his commission in order to secure payment of this albeit that:
a) where the first month’s rent is greater in value than the Agent’s commission the
Agent shall account to the Principal in respect of the remainder.
b) where the first month’s rent is less than the value of the Agent’s commission
the Agent shall invoice the Principal in respect of the shortfall.
- 4 Wherever a tenant who was introduced to the property by the Agent agrees to renew or
extend the tenancy (whether on a fixed or rolling basis and whether or not this extension or
renewal was negotiated by the Agent) the Agent shall be entitled to a commission of percent
of the total rent due to be paid in the period of the extension or renewal."
If the agent was deducting commission quarterly for the last 5 years. Do they have the right to deduct the whole year even if that is stated in the contract?
Also looking at old E-mails, I had asked to stop paying commission a year ago. They answered saying they would reduce the commission to 4% which they have not. They still charged 6.5% for the last year (quarterly). I should have notified them of the mistake but to be honest I had forgotten about that e-mail myself . So they charges me 6.5% in advance for a year to December 2021 as well.
I hope I made myself clear. To summarise:
Can I start legal action because they deducted commission a year in advance, even they have not done so in the last 5 year?
Can I retrieve the 2.5% e4xtra thety charged me last year?
Thank you in advance.
Amal
