Beware when renting with this agency

This agency have made me and my partners life hell for the last six months. Me and my partner decided to rent for six month and things looked good at first. We was renting in a nice area and bloore and king at this point seemed to tick all the boxes. On the day of moving into the property a b&k representative informed us on the rules and inspection dates to which she replied they would be visiting the property to check we wasnt doing cannabis crops which would be every three months. I didnt think the termonology cannabis crops really explained the need to view the property but anyhow i took it at face value. It was only intill 5 weeks into the tenancy when we had a call that an inspection was due things started to go downhill. There was no justification for a visit so early on into the tenancy but they insisted it was nessersary. Me and my partner are in our late 20's who are professionals and maybe this was the reason why. No matter how it was viewed we was paying alot of money to live in the property and we was constantly hounded in some way and it was made obvious that the tenant is no more then the person in the middle helping maintain the relationship witht the agency and the landlords. We wanted to end the tenancy agreement early and it was almost made impossible. Luckily we did but at first they was trying to make us pay an additional finders fee (£375) and even then we would not be able to move out untill they had found new tenants. After many emails and calls justifying the way we had been treated it was agreed that we didnt have to pay the finders fee and we ended the contract early. They have also took a good chunk of our deposit money for things me and my partner had made sure was perfect before we left. They charged us for not cleaning the outside of the windows when we did, but it was around the time when we had bad weather so they dirtied very quickly. They also charged us for cleaning the cooker and leaving a bag there which was initaly left by a workman the landlord had in to decorate the rooms for when we left. Bottom line for any tenant who signs there name at the bottom of there ridiculous contract, just hope you have no issues arise because they will charge for everything and they know this system inside out. I dont for one minute deny that they have a very good legal assistant. We was going to take our case to court but it would have cost us £600 to literally get things moving. Absoulute hell. I wont be suprised if they find a way of having this post removed! Please do your homework on this company before you consider signing a tenancy contract. Also if you are thinking about moving to Halesowen in general, please bear in mind that the A456 (Manor Way) is a nightmare at rush hour and we always had to leave half hour early just for that one road.

lee ashby - 18/03/2014 | report this review