Do we have to pay estate agent fee?

Brizzo

I did originally have my house up with the EA so the solicitors were aware of this as soon as I appointed them. Then when our friends wanted to buy we terminated the EA and the solicitors were fully aware of this as I rang them to ask how I stood on the matter. They've now royally messed up in sending some kind of agreement of sale letter to the EA as someone in admin didn't read the notes clearly.
If they don't back down I'm definitely putting in the hands of the solicitors to either represent me FOC for causing all this or asking them to pay it.
All this is their fault after all.

Doozergirl

I think you're wrong there Brizzo. The question here is whether you owe the EA or not, not who told them about the sale. If the EA didn't know, that doesn't right the issue of whether a fee is due, just that the agent wouldn't have known about it (arguably *yet*).

The fact that the solicitor may have accidentally informed the EA of a sale is the catalyst, but it makes them liable for nothing. If your buyers weren't on the mailing list, the agents just couldn't have billed you. If the fee is found to be legally due then there is not a chance that your solicitor will be paying it, likewise if it isn't legally due there isn't a chance your solicitors would pay it.

You don't have a leg to stand on with your solicitors. You have to stick to your argument with the EA that no fee is due.

People keep talking about the EA pursuing you but they should not even be billing you yet even if they were due a fee from the sale - as no sale has yet occurred!

They're just inept. They've seen a memo of sale, checked their records for your buyer and been lucky enough to find them. The bill has come straight from that - I bet they hardly realised that they hadn't even shown them round.

I feel for you.

Brizzo

Thanks Doozergirl, you're right as ever I know. It's just really stressing us out now. We should be all excited for moving and everything is going great apart from these idiot EA's. Am losing hope they'll back down even though we know they haven't got a case. The legal advisor said the same too, he reckons we should just send them a cheque for the £100+vat and tell them that's the end of it.

Brizzo

Yesterday I received yet another stupid letter from the EA. They're just basically repeating all the stuff they've said before and still think they're entitled to their fee because they co-incidentally sent a mailshot of my house to our friends who are buying my property. They now keep rabbitting on about how their fee covers a sale board, advertising blah blah blah.

So what? They only put my house in the paper once as well!!

They now say that they expect I'll now go to the OEA so will put their papers in order ready for this.

I've faxed a copy of their latest letter the the guy who I took legal advice from to get his slant on this.

Are they trying to play cool about this re the OEA as if they're so sure they'll win or are they playing scare tactics again?

They also say that they are strongly of the opinion that our case is vastly different to the Foxtons case - any thoughts please on this??

Any advice please??