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A letting agent terms of business agreement allows a letting agent to manage part or all of the lettings process of a property on behalf of a landlord. A let only letting agent will source a tenant and hand over the management to the landlord at the start of a tenancy. A full management letting agent will manage all aspects of the tenancy before and during the tenancy.
A full management letting agent will take care of all aspects of letting and managing a property. This means sourcing and referencing tenants, preparing an inventory, registering a deposit, collecting rent from the tenant and conducting routine property inspections. The letting agent will also be the tenant's point of contact for repairs and other tenancy related issues.
A deposit is capped to 5 weeks' rent and is used by the landlord to cover potential rent arrears or repairs the tenant is responsible for. A deposit must be registered in one of the 3 government tenancy deposit schemes within 30 days of collecting the deposit.
A full management letting agent can register the deposit in their name or in the name of the landlord. This is because they will be able to sign off on the inventory and conduct routine property inspections throughout the tenancy which will allow them to justify any potential deductions to the deposit at the end of the tenancy.
A letting agent terms of business must indicate the deposit scheme the letting agent will use when registering the deposit for the property.