Agency backs down over tenant fees due

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Fees ban:

A Manchester based
letting and management agency backed down over its claim for letting
fees after intervention action from a tenants’ Manchester and
Liverpool based union.

The tenant fees ban
came into force in June this year, but agents are within their rights
to apply tenant fees for contracts signed before then – it is
purely at the desertion of an agency whether or not these fees are
waived.

However, following concerted pressure from Acorn, a tenant’s union, the agency involved, Ascend, of Washway Road, Sale, decided to waive its fees.

Following a mass protest from Acorn members outside the agency offices, which involved jambing the company’s telephone lines, a letter was handed to the manager reminding him that it was in his discretionary power to waive the outstanding fees.

A decision was made
at the agency head office very quickly and it was decided to waive
them.

Acorn said the
letter stated:

“Acorn is here
today because you are callously threatening your tenants with
homelessness.

“These fees are
paid to the agency, not the landlord.

“Ascend are simply
attempting to line their own pockets at the expense of tenants and
landlords.”

This was underlined
by a threat that Acorn would “be forced to take further action”
if the situation was not rectified.

El, an Acorn member
who claims he was facing an eviction threat from Ascend for
organising other tenants against the fee claim, told the Star
newspaper:

“Ascend have made
me and my housemates feel stressed throughout the situation.

“It’s affected
all aspects of our lives and we are so glad that Acorn were there to
back us.”

Acorn organiser Kat
Wright told the Star:

“We won in twelve
minutes.

“Our member was
being threatened with eviction for organising against fees, which we
think are unfair and immoral – and while they may be legal, we
refuse to pay them.

“Now the fees are
withdrawn, as is the Section 21 threat.

“This absolutely
wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t had a rowdy picket with
loads of members amping up the pressure.”

The newspaper did not print any response from Ascend.

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