Our Estate agent has disappeared!

[Paddington]

Any advice please.

My husband rented out his house in Manchester last year. We had an agent come around and decided to go with him. He found us tenants within a week. He is holding the deposit.
Now the tenants want to move out and we can't make any contact with the EA. The website has changed server, the phone line is dead and we have left email messages but no reply.

I am just wondering now what we can do to get at the desposit and find out what is going on.

[Mattcreed]

Do you not have an address for the agent? Have you tried looking for them in the Yellow pages, or a Google search?

[drhouse]

Try contacting some other agents in the area and see if they know if they have relocated. If they have gone out of business it may be that they have passed on the properties to someone else.

[garethcthomas]

Was the agent a member of NALS, ARLA, UKALA, NAEA or the Property Ombudsman Scheme (or another professional body)? You might have some form of recourse to get the tenant(s) deposit monies back if that is the case.

Where the agent was not a member of such a scheme, then in law you are responsible for holding and repaying the deposit (less reasonable deductions) to the tenants, even though the agent went bust or did a runner with the money.

This is why I personally NEVER let an agent hold tenant deposits, but for other landlords they shouldn't either unless the agent belongs to one of these bodies.

[propertydiamond]

Quite a worrying and shocking story,I hope you managed to locate them, or find out what had happened.

[Richard Le Neve Foster]

The deposit should be 'insured' by the government under the TDS or DPS - you should look at the tenancy agreement to find out which one and then contact them for advice. They will be able to help with this.

[whsitle blower]

I am keen to ensure other people do not have the same problem, please send me more info.