An NHS doctor and her family were charged over £10,000 in unlawful fees by a landlord for services including cleaning a chimney, carpet and oven. Tenant fees, which include cleaning fees, were banned by the law but campaigners suggest that many are being ripped off across the country. The letting agent, Sowerbys, and landlords, Victoria and Graham Bray, have not commented on the incident. The Brays and Sowerbys have both been issued fines by Norfolk Trading Standards over the unlawful fees.
The family moved into the property in west Norfolk in 2019, with a monthly rent of £1,500. Dr. Elizabeth Murray and her husband, who is an NHS surgeon, signed a contract that required proof of the use of contractors and had to show a breakdown of the fees. Dr. Murray said that after two years it was very expensive, and it was becoming very overwhelming. The stress of having to pay the unlawful fees led her husband to depression. The family eventually moved out of the house, which is no longer owned by Victoria and Graham Bray.
Dr. Murray and her husband are considering taking legal action against the agent and landlords to recover the unlawful fees. Paul Cunningham, the chairman of Eastern Region Landlords Association, warned that landlords and tenants face fines of up to £5,000 for breaking the tenant fee ban laws. Any landlord charging fees outside of the permitted charges, such as deposit, council tax, and utilities bills, could find themselves paying a massive fee and may face a ban from being a landlord under some circumstances.
Dan Wilson Craw, the deputy chief executive of Generation Rent, a pressure group, stated that disputes on cleaning costs were one of the more common issues arising from the Tenant Fees Act. He advised tenants being charged illegal fees to speak to their landlords first, then to Trading Standards if necessary. If cleaning costs are deducted from the deposit at the end of the tenancy, they could be challenged using the deposit scheme
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More