Asked by Anonymous
Hi Guru,
We were looking for an HDB rental on Property Guru and came across this flat that we liked, during the viewing the agent told us he’s the Tenant’s Agent so we would have to pay him an agency fee (while we sourced this flat online and arranged for this viewing ourselves!).
We tried looking for the same house elsewhere but found no other source of information, it seems like the landlord’s agent is not active in promoting the flat online. (or could it be the “Tenant’s agent’’ is taking up a dual role?)
All in all, we liked the flat, after verifying:
1. The HDB ownership
2. HDB’s confirmation that owners are eligible to rent out
3. Agent is CEA-registered
4. The name on the bank account for the deposit transfer matches the owner of the HDB
PLUS the agent managed to get the deal with the landlord at our desired monthly price, so as appreciation for his (little) work, we agreed to pay for this agency fee. To show our ‘intent to rent’, we transferred the deposit to the landlord and started to wait for the Agent to show us the contract (a long wait here).
However, the agent has not been prompt in reply and promised to forward the contract but has been delaying. We are both irritated by how slow the process is and start to question the legitimacy of this deal.
We have the following questions that would appreciate Gurus’ help with:
1. Is this a valid practice that the house information be listed by the Tenant’s Agent instead of the Landlord’s Agent? (We had no intention of getting a Tenant’s Agent but we could not reach the Landloar’s Agent as there’s no information channel)
2. We placed our deposit as an ‘intent to rent’ if the deal breaks now because the Agent does not reply nor provide us with the contract, can we demand the deposit back?
3. Given the unprofessional practice and the fact that we might need to go for another round of house hunting can we file a complaint? If so what are the channels?
Since we agreed to pay the agent fee in this one, we are keen on engaging a PROFESSIONAL agent in our next round of house hunting.
We were looking for an HDB rental on Property Guru and came across this flat that we liked, during the viewing the agent told us he’s the Tenant’s Agent so we would have to pay him an agency fee (while we sourced this flat online and arranged for this viewing ourselves!).
We tried looking for the same house elsewhere but found no other source of information, it seems like the landlord’s agent is not active in promoting the flat online. (or could it be the “Tenant’s agent’’ is taking up a dual role?)
All in all, we liked the flat, after verifying:
1. The HDB ownership
2. HDB’s confirmation that owners are eligible to rent out
3. Agent is CEA-registered
4. The name on the bank account for the deposit transfer matches the owner of the HDB
PLUS the agent managed to get the deal with the landlord at our desired monthly price, so as appreciation for his (little) work, we agreed to pay for this agency fee. To show our ‘intent to rent’, we transferred the deposit to the landlord and started to wait for the Agent to show us the contract (a long wait here).
However, the agent has not been prompt in reply and promised to forward the contract but has been delaying. We are both irritated by how slow the process is and start to question the legitimacy of this deal.
We have the following questions that would appreciate Gurus’ help with:
1. Is this a valid practice that the house information be listed by the Tenant’s Agent instead of the Landlord’s Agent? (We had no intention of getting a Tenant’s Agent but we could not reach the Landloar’s Agent as there’s no information channel)
2. We placed our deposit as an ‘intent to rent’ if the deal breaks now because the Agent does not reply nor provide us with the contract, can we demand the deposit back?
3. Given the unprofessional practice and the fact that we might need to go for another round of house hunting can we file a complaint? If so what are the channels?
Since we agreed to pay the agent fee in this one, we are keen on engaging a PROFESSIONAL agent in our next round of house hunting.
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