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Lease Renewal - Agents Commission?

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  1. #21

    Fiona, a tenancy extension agreement can be a simple one page document (no need to do a fresh multiple page tenancy agreement, especially since both you and the landlord have agreed to continue on the same terms and rental amount) making reference to the previous agreement, stating that parties have agreed to extend the term of the tenancy for xx period, and which incorporates the previous agreement (and its terms) by reference.

    The suggested wording incorporating the terms of the previous agreement could be as follows: "All terms and conditions of the 20xx Agreement except as herein otherwise amended are hereby incorporated by reference and shall continue to apply with full force and effect during the term of this Agreement."

    Hope this is useful, especially if you try to get out of the outrageous demand for commission from the agent who did absolutely nothing but simply reprinted the same original tenancy agreement with the dates changed and is saying that you need to pay him/her for the "work" done in preparing the agreement. Good luck!

    Last edited by stanleyliving; 12-07-2017 at 05:31 PM.
    shri likes this.

  2. #22

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fiona in HKG:

    For myself, I am renewing my tenancy agreement on same terms (and rent) as previous agreement. Landlord and I agreed to renewal, agent jumped in to 'negotiate', I said I was happy to stay on but at current rent. He even suggested an increase in rental but I had done my homework and even had recent rentals for apartments on my own floor. Agreed with landlord no increase and renew for another two years.
    Sounds like the agent in this case was of negative value to you.

    If the landlord is overseas and that somehow makes the agent valuable, then maybe the landlord can shoulder the cost at whatever he/she values it at, but I see zero reason for the agent to be involved.

    We've renewed contracts twice with out landlord, who is in HK. Both times all comms were handled by email/whatsapp, each time we just had the new stamped contract just appear in our letterbox. If you were to handle the footwork yourself, you could get it stamped and posted to Oz.
    shri and Fiona in HKG like this.

  3. #23

    Join Date
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    Thanks everyone for the very useful information. The agent is quite proactive and jumped in having seen my lease is about to expire. In the past, landlord has been using him to represent her for example for repairs but I actually take care of a lot of the small things myself now, it's just easier. This is my fourth renewal (first with no increase) but I am absolutely questioning why he needs to be a party to this and if landlord wants him then pay him a fee and be done with it. I know, stupid to have bought into this previously and I do understand he's just merely following the process from previous renewals.

    I have asked landlord if she is happy with the fee and I guess if she is I will have to suck it up. But she has a new baby and may also want to save $6,000 or at least part of it!

    I would be more than happy to do things myself and something tells me that my landlord may also feel that way and we have built up a very good relationship ourselves. I don't mind paying a service fee for the arrangements but a half-month of rental between us is a bit rich.

    Just wanted to know what other people do (apart from the work themselves) if they do pay an agent for this sort of thing.

    Cheers all


  4. #24

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    Original Post Deleted
    same here.

    Many Agents need to keep friendly with clients (landlords) handle renewals for the landlord as a favour.

    The tenant should not pay any fees or charges. If the landlord / agent indicates payment is required either DIY, or landlord can pay it all, so no agency fee for renewals.
    TheBrit likes this.

  5. #25

    Join Date
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    Just curious, you haven't actually signed anything recently with this renewal that legally binds you to pay the agent a fee, have you?

    I've never heard of an agent doing this... I think you should tell the agent nice one but to sod off! All new low for agents!

    JAherbert likes this.

  6. #26

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Fiona,

    Absolutely do not pay a dime to the agent. This is something you do yourself. If you PM me I will send you a template lease. Fill it out, email to landlord and have him send it back to you by email. You can file stamp duty electronically.

    As protection you can pull a land search to confirm LL still owns the flat and nothing wrong. Also make sure everyone's ID cards are verified. That's it.

    Commissions are for merely making the contact and sharing contact details. Charging a fee on renewal if the agent negotiated a hefty discount for you then maybe. But for same price and terms, I don't think so.

    JAherbert and shri like this.

  7. #27

    Join Date
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    Thank you everyone. There was never an agreement with the agent. I concur that he is obviously on the landlord's side, hence the first approach being that there would be an increase. I did my own research to show there was no justification and landlord accepted it easily. I do not see what we are paying $12,000 for based on this (or any) renewal.

    I think the agent may have been the one to handle landlord's purchase of the apartment many years ago and probably wants to keep her sweet, should she decide to sell later on and give him the business. On that basis he may waive the fee now.

    I have contacted the landlord and told her I feel the renewal handling fee is unacceptable and there is no way he can justify this sort of charge. Let's see what she says.

    Thanks everyone for your valuable input.

    shri, Elegiaque, jgl and 1 others like this.

  8. #28

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    As I don't rent for my home, my experience is with commercial property. Twice now we have renewed our office lease and twice we have used an agent. The use of the agent was to help with the negotiations and keep the cost of our renewal down - they also showed us a lot of alternative places so we could decide whether to stay or not. However, the cost of our renewal was NOT the normal half month fee - it was a negotiated sum based on how much we paid for our new lease (higher fee for a lower rent). Their fee ended up being quite small because we closed out the negotiations early (knowing we would pay more, but we had a specific internal reason for doing it).

    SO in other words, even where an agent is actually doing a decent amount of work, we did not pay anything like the same fee. A much reduced one.

    Sounds like your agent is taking advantage of your history. Ask them to provide the agreement where you agreed to pay for their services FOR THIS RENEWAL. When they can't, you can have a discussion about why you are supposed to pay. If you wish to stay on good terms you may wish to negotiate a nominal sum.....

    jgl likes this.

  9. #29

    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    440

    I renewed my lease through my agent and paid a nominal fee of $5000. You either renew directly with the landlord and pay zero dollars, or go through an agent and pay a negotiated fee.

    The way I look at it is, if you're going to use someone's service, then pay for it. What makes you think it's okay to take up someone's time and money and not even giving them anything in return?

    Then again, because I paid I expected and got the following things from the agent:

    1) Handle the negotiations.

    2) Do a brand new land search to see if the landlord is still the same person and if there are any new incumbrances to the flat or building. If there are any, then they should use it as leverage during negotiations.

    3) Draft up a new tenancy agreement.

    4) Commute to my office or home, and also to the landlord for the signing.

    5) Head to the Revenue Tower and get the tenancy agreements stamped (or do it electronically).

    And

    6) Return the stamped agreements to both me and the landlord.

    $5000 is a fair price to pay for the convenience and peace of mind.

    shri likes this.