Q. My letting agent has been bought  out and the new company keeps sending me invoices for frivolous items which I have never been charged for before. Can they do this? They do get a monthly commission which should cover this sort of thing.

A. You need first to have a look at your agency agreement and see what the agents have contracted to do for their monthly commission. If these things are covered then, no, they are not entitled to charge for them. As the new agents have taken over from the old ones they will be bound by your agreement with the old agents. Once you have checked your agency agreement I suggest that you write to your agents informing them that these items should be covered by their monthly fee (if they are).

You may also want to consider moving to another agency.

Q. My tenants are kicking up a fuss because I have temporarily stored some large boxes of items in the spare bedroom at the property they rent from me. They are not actually using the room so I don't see why they are so annoyed about it. They say they are going to withhold rent if I do not clear the room - can they do this?