sweet, sounds like ur on to a resolution there. most agents will have tennants pay rent into their account. then transfer it to the landlord at the end of the month... that way the agent earns a lil interest, and also has a bunch of $$ to use on the landlords behalf.
only really works well if the landlord has multiple properties cos a bunch of money will sit in that account... im guessing this is not the case for ur landlord, and everything has to come out of their pocket.
none the less, fixing that stuff is not your responsibility. Its the landlord/agents problem. Glad to hear that your agent is taking responsibility for the landlords lack of appropriate action