Spare keys issue with letting agent/landlord
A year ago, our last landlord put our apartment up for sale. At the time, I gave out my spare keys (voluntarily) to help the estate agent (now our letting agent) view the apartment with prospective buyers. When the apartment was finally sold in July, I left the keys with the letting agent as it made sense for them to hang on to a spare set of keys should an emergency ever arise.
While the apartment is in Belfast, our landlord is based in England. There are three tenants, none of whom own an entire set of "keys". There are 5 "keys" in a complete set - 2 remotes for vehicle access to complex and garage area and three "normal" keys. The spare keys I mention above are two physical keys required to gain access, on foot, to the complex and the apartment.
Well, on Friday, I needed the spare set of keys as I found myself locked out of the apartment. I called the letting agent to arrange a time where I could call in and pick up the keys, but they claimed that there was no record of my keys in their system. I asked them to chase this up as a matter of urgency as I had no access to the apartment until one of the other tenants came back after Xmas.
Suffice to say, the letting agent has only just called me back this morning to tell me that they handed over my spare set of keys to the landlord a few months ago (per the landlord's request) without telling me.
While I appreciate that the landlord has a right to a set of keys to a property he owns, did the letting agent have the right to hand over a set of keys that I had paid for (without letting me know)? Should the landlord have gotten his own set cut from my spare set?
While the apartment is in Belfast, our landlord is based in England. There are three tenants, none of whom own an entire set of "keys". There are 5 "keys" in a complete set - 2 remotes for vehicle access to complex and garage area and three "normal" keys. The spare keys I mention above are two physical keys required to gain access, on foot, to the complex and the apartment.
Well, on Friday, I needed the spare set of keys as I found myself locked out of the apartment. I called the letting agent to arrange a time where I could call in and pick up the keys, but they claimed that there was no record of my keys in their system. I asked them to chase this up as a matter of urgency as I had no access to the apartment until one of the other tenants came back after Xmas.
Suffice to say, the letting agent has only just called me back this morning to tell me that they handed over my spare set of keys to the landlord a few months ago (per the landlord's request) without telling me.
While I appreciate that the landlord has a right to a set of keys to a property he owns, did the letting agent have the right to hand over a set of keys that I had paid for (without letting me know)? Should the landlord have gotten his own set cut from my spare set?
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