The Estate Agency Affairs Board will investigate the fairness of the practice among rental agents of charging tenants lease fees, Bongani Mlangeni, the board's communications manager, says. The charging of lease fees, also referred to as administration fees, is widespread. A total of 66% of agents surveyed by property credit bureau TPN charge tenants administration or lease fees. Of these, 57% charge the fee again when the lease agreement is renewed. It is specifically this second round of charges that the EAAB will be discussing with agencies. The national average for lease fees is R927 but it can be as high as R2850 and the lowest is R100, according to the TPN survey. Nationally, 70% of agents charge between R500 and R1000, 27% charge more than R1000 and 3% charge below R500. Mlangeni says that since there are no laws forbidding agents from charging these fees, the board is limited in what it can do about the practice. "However, we plan on engaging our stakeholders to discuss whet...
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