Apartment: Pre-Rental/Securing Deposit?

Joeyjoejo

Hey All,

just wondering does anyone know what the situation is with security deposits for renting an apartment i.e. a deposit you pay to letting agents to stop other people making bids or taking apartment before contract is negotiated/signed.

Are these fully refundable? And is it completely legal for Estate Agents to ask for these deposits?

I am currently dealing with an estate agents who asked me last Friday to bring in the usual work references etc. along with "the deposit". I rang them this morning to confirm the exact price of the rent, as I had offered slightly less than the asking price, and wanted to confirm if this was accepted so I could make out the bank draft for correct amount. It was only then that the estate agent felt the need to tell me this was only a securing deposit and not my usual one months rental deposit paid in advance.

I then asked was this fully refundable and they swiftly moved on to the next point of conversation without answering my question. As it stands I have not paid anything yet, but am a bit annoyed about how unclear they were about this security deposit and failed to be upfront about it!

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Joey

shoegirl

Sounds teeny bit iffy! Just ask for it in writing.

the_syco

Sounds dodgy as f**k. There was a thread about something like this a few months ago, and I think they lost said deposit. Search function ain't working, so you'll need to start reading back a few pages

J-blk

Doesn't sound good and I'd walk away TBH. It's not like we're back in the days of queues of people waiting for any single place to become available, so I can't see how they can even justify the so-called "holding deposit". If they are making you jump through extra hoops just to rent the damn place, it simply isn't worth it with the current state of things.

Victor

Booking deposits tend to be non-refundable, unless otherwise stated.

The estate agent is out to secure his own fee.

Tell them to come back to you when they have their paperwork sorted. That is unless you really, really, really, really want the place.

Joeyjoejo

Cheers for the replies everyone....

Spoke with Letting Agents today, and they mentioned the deposit again. I asked her what exactly is it for and she said it's the usual one months rental, which will be returned at the End of Lease (and will also secure apartment until contract signed)...which is definitely not what she said on Monday

We were interested in the place and were trying to move things along at a reasonable pace, trying to confirm details about parking, prices etc. from them since Friday. Only begining to get any feedback from them today.

They're constantly stalling every step, they have copies of our references, even if I bring in deposit tomorrow they won't have the contract available to sign for couple of days. Can't figure them out, been trying to get the place sorted since Friday, always me ringing them asking...."where are are we now on this?"...etc

Am probably best walking away from the whole thing alright...never had so much hassle trying to sort apartment out!

J-blk

Once you move in (if you move in) is the place managed by said estate agent or the landlord directly? Because if they are managing the place during your tenancy, can you imagine what they will be like to deal with if you need something fixed/replaced, etc if you can't even get them to sort things now that you're trying to give them money?!