Reluctant LL - 1 bed apt: Initially letting agent impressive but now cant contact.

I'm wondering if any of you seasoned landlords out there could offer any advice?

I am another reluctant landlord, having to let my one bedroom apartment to move to a family home.

Initially I was going to let and manage the property myself but quickly realised that this was going to be impossible as I was not living in the same area and have family commitments. So I called a few agents to get a quote.

One agent in particular was very eager and made things easy for me. I had placed the initial advert and had set up viewings with prospective tenants. He said that he would meet the tenants that I had set up viewings for. Obviously this solved a big problem for me so I agreed to meet with him.

I ended up engaging his service for letting and managing the property for the year. He did a good job convincing me.
Initially he did his job and met the tenants and recommended one to me and agreed to forward all the necessary paperwork (lease, references, passport) plus the money owed to me (1st month rent + deposit minus his fee).

He arranged a date for the tenant to move in and did lodge the money owed into my account (thankfully!) however since then will not return my calls/emails. I have no paperwork and aside from the name of the tenant, do not know who is renting my apartment.

I have registered the tenancy with the PRTB but have been unable to state that it is "managed" as I do not have the CRO or PPS number of the letting agent. I also do not have a receipt for the fees paid which I will require for tax return at the end of the year.

I have now given up trying to contact him but was wondering if there is any recourse for me. I assume he will not take a call from the tenant either if there is a problem during the year as that would mean he would have to make contact with me. He did quote his fee + VAT however I cannot find a registered VAT number for him.

Can I still deduct fees paid from my tax bill even though I do not have a receipt from him? I didn't sign anything with him either, he just gave me his paperwork of what would be done in exchange for the fees.

I know I have to take the hit this time for my poor vetting of him and will most likely have to pay another letting agent. However I would like to see if there is any way of reporting him or preventing others getting fleeced by him?

He was an independent agent whose details I got from an add on one of the property add websites, Any thoughts?

Thanks

Unfortunately, a great many Letting agents, Estate agents in Ireland. from my experience of them, offer very little in the way of a an acceptable service.

Many do not even know the basics of the RTA 2004. They will, verbally, offer you what you want but in the end will do very little.

Talking to one recently, he said that he would not do an entry inventory as it would cost too much. And an entry inventory is one of the basic jobs I would expect an agent to do as it is the proof of the condition of the property at the start of a tenancy.

Others have tried to convince me that they can evict a tenant during a fixed term lease on the grounds that the owner wants his property back for his own use.

I assume that you did have a contract for the whole term of the tenancy not just a "find a tenant" agreement. Was there a written contract or just verbal - what were the terms?

All EAs and letting agents must be registered. See [broken link removed] They also say that they will provide for " the investigation and adjudication of complaints made against PSPs". However, if it is anything like the PRTB, I don't hold much hope.

Thanks for your reply facetious.

He had defined his fees in two parts, one part for the letting and one part for the management for the year (plus VAT). Unfortunately this agreement was verbal. He gave me his "bumf" on the services he provided which included both elements. This was on headed paper but not something that was signed.

I will follow up about the registration.

Thanks for that information.

Lesson learned!