But that’s not the point.
After a year of living at home while an intern at a fashion house in London, my younger daughter will be back to uni in September for her final year, so we’re back to trying to find accommodation.
She has done all the hard part; searching for suitable places, viewing all sorts of flats and rooms. She has found a 2 bedroom flat that she will share with her boyfriend. It’s not far from campus, well the part she needs 😂, and gives them room to work if they don’t have to venture out to lectures or seminars.
She has put me down as guarantor and the letting agent contacted me.
They asked me to confirm the usual information, name, address, DOB. They said they’d pre-populate the guarantor form and send it via their e-sign service for my signature.
Apparently this is “the safest and securest way to complete the guarantor process”. 🤔
Providing this information was what I expected. What I didn’t was:
“The fee for this service is £5 + Vat which also includes admin costs. Please send £6 to the following account”.
When I queried this charge, they said the system they used charged them for electronic signatures. They said I could avoid this if they emailed me the form: I could print it off, sign it and post it back to them!
I pointed out this was an expense that they had no legal basis to charge me. They either accounted for it as a business expense or they could pass onto the landlord as part of their agreement with them.
After a few emails back and forth, they waived it!
I know it’s only £6, but it’s the principle. Letting agents and landlords are not entitled to charge for these and many other “little” things they do in connection with setting up a lease.
Paying a deposit and then the rent is costly enough without these seemingly small fees for this and that which all add up.
This is just one thing I question all the time, both in business and personally, probably because I’m a solicitor. I am that 1% that always reads the terms and conditions?,
I’m sure others would have just paid. But it’s not right.
Just one of many benefits of working with me, spotting unfair terms. Sometimes it saves more than £6.