Lots of inexperienced landlords choose to pay a letting agent to manage their properties because it seems like the best option for all concerned, and if the landlord lives a long way from their property, a letting agent is usually better placed to deal with routine matters and changes of tenant. But, unfortunately, despite government promises to improve the situation, letting agents in England and Wales remain unregulated, which means there are a large number of rogue operators charging unfair fees and behaving in a less than professional manner.
Unscrupulous letting agents use all kinds of tactics to maximise profits at the expense of unwitting landlords and tenants. They often charge ridiculously high property management fees, including fees running to hundreds of pounds for simple tasks such as credit checking a tenant, and because they make more money when tenant turnover is high, they are happy to harass tenants and negotiate rent increases that are typically based on what they think a tenant is willing to pay rather than what current rental market prices are.
Many landlords put up with such practices because they are able to offset the fees charged by letting agents as a legitimate business expense, but instead of being ripped off every month if you are using a letting agency to manage your properties, consider finding another agency with a clearly advertised and unambiguous fee schedule. If landlords only choose to work with a letting agency running their business fairly and efficiently rather than one of the more unscrupulous agents currently in business, hopefully the rogue agencies will eventually be driven out of business.
