Letting agent fee when lease broken?

[Charley]

I had a 12-mth lease on my rented property arranged by a letting agent to whom I paid a substantial fee, only to be told soon after that the tenants are leaving after 3 months. I have not got a refund of the rest of the money I paid despite repeated requests.
I presume the agent is not entitled to keep the fee for the remaining months as the lease did not run the full course. What can I do to get my money back from the auctioneer/agent?

 

[mo3art]

Interesting question. Have you discussed this with the agent? I'm assuming this is a residential property?

Technically if the agent marketed the property and acquired you a tenant that signed a 12 month lease then you should be paying the agent in full for a job well done. The agent's not liable for the bad tenant. I assume that you got references/guarantees etc via the agent?

However, most agents would be prepared to discount a further advertisement/letting agreement in order to get you a new tenant. You need to discuss this with the agent.