Unprofessional Property Rental Agents – A Generalisation

Why is it that so many costa del Sol Property Management and rental companies have sprung up in such a short space of time? Is it due to the relatively poor regulation of these “companies”, or just the high demand for such companies due to an abundance of rental properties? Of course I do appreciate the hard work put in by many companies who endeavour to ensure that all legalities are in place and do follow suitable practices to ensure that a satisfactory service is provide, but there are also so many who seem to just want to make a quick buck and have nothing more to do with you.

Seems to be the way over here, even though i know many agents that do the checks,

From experience i can tell you that checks mean nothing, someone may have been a great tenant in the past and now be the total opposite and vice versa.

There is never any guarantees with rentals.  Rental contracts are normally not very good when they come from an Agent, they are very basic and dont always cover all the things you would like it to cover.

I do think in some cases the comission is to high for the amount of work done but thats just the way it is.  Short term rentals they normally take 10% and long term the equivalent to a months rent, sometimes even two.

They do not have anything to do with the contract and therefore you cant call them for anything if something goes wrong.

Joan

Thanks Joan, so maybe if the majority made a stand and said that they would pay 10%/ month rather than 1 (or 2) months rent it would be a way forward. At least the agent would stick around for a bit longer, especially when many landlords are not actually living in Spain (else they would probably not be letting their property). It's nice to know that you have someone at that end that you can count on.

These rental agents that you are so happy to criticise found a tenant for your friend.  Your friend didn't find the tenant and neither did you.  You have a misplaced view of what you are buying for your fee.  It's like a dating agency.  They'll find a match for you but only get a fee if you go to bed together.  Your fee buys you someone to rent your property.  Nothing more.  If you want them to babysit you for ever after, I'm sure they'd be happy to negotiate a separate contract with a separate fee.  Then you wouldn't just be able to complain if they didn't perform, you could sack them.

Or, alternatively, if you think it's so easy and money for nothing, don't use them.  No-one's pointing a gun to your head.  You advertise in the SUR or wherever else you want to spend your money advertising, 

jek, i think you have taken this the wrong way, no one ver said the agent does nothing but you do have to realise most of the clients these agents get for the properties are actually walk ins from the street, the agent does not go looking for them.

Of course they need to make money and of course we need to pay a fee, i just consider that this fee is a little on the high side.

Joan

I appreciate your response Jek. I can't comment on the dating agency front as I never needed one.

My last tenant I actually took up references myself and requested a copy of the equivilent of a P45. He also produced references from his accountant and employer, as did his wife. I met the whole family for lunch to sign the deal and spent two or three hours showing them how everything worked.

My experience with the previous tenants wasn't so good, they complained about the water bill and said they didn't see why they should pay for the water for the garden and pool (which included the shower) although they didn't mind using the garden and the pool. The agent actually agreed to this and we had to come to an agreement with them for part payment of the water bill.

They also broke a window and pulled two curtain rails from the walls, which the agent informed us would be down to us as they reported this incidents before we took the property back.

The icing on the cake was the fact that the tenants refused to pay the last two months rent to us, but paid it to the agent in case they didn't get their deposit back (this started alarm bells ringing). We drew up an agreement to the effect that the agent held the last two months rent as the deposit as they wanted.

On hand over of the property quite a lot of damage was done. Tenants weren't there but the agent and a representative of the tenants was. When we had started totalling up the damage/ deficiences we got to a certain point whereby the represenative said that we were to leave the property and the keys would not be given back unless we accepted a nominal amount. Of course that was refused.

By Spanish law unless the keys are handed back the tenancy has not ended and our new tenants were moving in with all their furniture two days later. My wife and I had no choice but to change our flights to stay and get this resolved.

We finally agreed that the agent would return the deposit minus certain figure  which was the maximum agreed for damages. We then had thirty days to provide proof of costs. When we got to exceeed the amount we stopped submitting the receipts as the maximum we could get was the agreed amount.

That was six months ago and the agent is still holding the balance of the deposit and is adamant that it will not be handed over until all parties are in agreement. Their legal rep can't get hold of them and has told my solictor not to contact her anymore.

Furthermore, when I now contact the agent I am told that I should be paying a mediation fee for them trying to get this resolved.

So Jek, even though I paid the agent a couple of Gs upfront, they seem to actually be siding with the tenant, or just burying their head in the sand.

Wow! Think I need a pint after that essay. 
 

Joan - you're still not getting it.  These walk-ins off the street were only able to walk in because the agent has an office on the street and advertises in the shop window.  That costs money and you have not got the faintest idea what the economics are in terms of what represents a market price for that service.  But the agent did his job.  He made the match - and without him many a property owner would have an empty property.  For that he gets paid.  And you agree the price before anyone is introduced to you.  Fair play.  No-one is holding a gun to your head.  You don't like the price, go elsewhere or do it yourself.  You are all grown-ups.  Stop whingeing.

SJG - the problem is that you have called this thread "Unprofessional property agents - a generalisation".  There is no evidence that your bloke is typical of all people who provide this service.  No argument that you've had it tough and, for what it is worth, you have my sympathy.  But you can't extrapolate from your specific experience to a general whinge about everybody who arranges property rentals. 

Blimey JEK, you're certainly getting on your high horse here. That dating agency not coming up with the goods?

I was just wondering if we could learn a thing or two from the way things are done in the UK.

Incidentally, I did own a property management company in Spain and we did take a percentage in return for regular property checks and full monthly reports.

Plus I'm also not necessarily talking about the legit agents, but this certainly applies to those who simply have a webmail address, a mobile phone and aren't even registered.
 

I think you're wrong.  My point is that the law of caveat emptor applies in Spain too.  Let the buyer beware.  If you get someone to find you a tenant he can reasonably expect a fee for that service and there is no requirement whatsoever for him to be registered with anyone. And if an unregistered bloke with a website and a mobile phone finds you a tenant and charges you his advertised fee, why are you moaning?  Let the purchaser make sure they know what service they are buying and what the price will be for that service.  It's called competition and competition benefits the consumer.

And don't mix up tenant-finding and tenant-managing.  You are actually moaning about the latter.  But you've got Joan all excited about the former.