Firing Estate Agents

wildcardsa

Dear all,

Last week we emailed our EA to give written notice of our cancellation of the sales agreement with them. We have given them an ample 6 months to sell our 1 bed flat ina sought after area and have had no joy. In that 6 months, we have had to chase them up with countless phone calls, failed to get any call backs, failed to get any constructive feedback, 6weeks to get a "for sale" sign, had only 6 viewings, and generally had no real service. (annoyed we lasted 6 months really!!)

We emailed them with a request for them to call us back to acknowledge reciept. No surprise they failed to do this, but I had attached a "Read Receipt" to the email to which was activated on the day of sending. My wife also called them and they then acknowledged receipt but gave no real explaination for shoddy work. I have stipulated that I wish for them to continue marketing the property up until the date of notice end (21 days later).

My question is,
Is there anything else we should be aware of when cancelling and going with another EA as I know a lot of EA's try dodgy tricks to gain valuable pennies from you when you leave?

PS - we will wait out our 21 days notice to ensure that we are out of contract before singing up with another EA.

Robert_Sterling_3

You did not get the service you expected from them.
They did not get any payment from you.
No winners.

chickmug

Unfortunately is is almost impossible to prove poor service no matter angry you feel but you are doing the right thing by ensuring you cover your back against any charges.

So have you throughly read the terms to make sure there is no more liabilty.

The usual one is for agents, when you do eventually get a sale, to claim they introduced the buyer by sending them details even by post or email. So ask them if there is any further possibility of them claiming commission and if so on what basis and ask for a list of all those they feel they may have a future claim.

Make sure when you appoint your next agent that they will agree to share commission if the first agent can prove any commission dues so at least you will pay once only as some on this forum have ended up with two bills.

wildcardsa

"You did not get the service you expected from them.
They did not get any payment from you.
No winners."

As I agree there are no winners - I do feel that we have wasted 6 months with their incompetance. Thanks for stating the obvious.

wildcardsa

Thanks chick mug - will get onto this - def worth a try.
much appreciated and I will check with our new EA to see if they willing to do this too.
Thanks
Am I right in thinking, that by emailing alone, they will not really have a leg to stand on as "introducing the property" would at least require some sort of viewing or offer proposal,etc?

chickmug

wildcardsa wrote: »

Am I right in thinking, that by emailing alone, they will not really have a leg to stand on as "introducing the property" would at least require some sort of viewing or offer proposal,etc?

Many will say that it is not the sending out of information alone, or even having made a viewing at some time in the past that earns them the right to commission but the fact they have actually instigated the sales process. That they, through their endeavours, have persauded the party to commit and then instructed solicitors.

However many agents whether legally or morally right, or not, will send out a bill and try it on. So you really must get a new agent to co-oparate as I would of always done in the same situation.

wildcardsa

Thanks again Chick mug - I can imagine they must email hundreds of people too. Maybe a legal gizmo on this site should write up a template letter with deling with this sort of thing?

I read this on another thread, but was unsure as to who the Statutory Regulation was set by - was it the National association of Estate Agents or another association of Estate Agents?

"The statutory Regulations, do not allow claims for commission in circumstances where they merely introduce the eventual purchaser to the property. In order to be entitled to claim a commission, an agent must instead introduce the purchaser to the sale transaction itself, not just the property."

princeofpounds

One of the above posters picked it up but just to make sure you get the critical thing - ask them for a list of people they consider they introduced and why. This will help avoid the main thing that can go wrong, where they claim fees for a transaction your new agent has also organised. As also noted above, the case law has been tightened up a bit on this so that they actually need to introduce someone to the transaction, not just show them a picture of the house, so if they do ever try it on, be aware of that.

conveyancingexplained

I would suggest that you consider making a complaint about the agents' poor service. As of October 2008, all estate agents had to become registered with a regulatory body, because it was felt that although solicitors and surveyors are heavily regulated, estate agents are not.

The Ombudsman for Estate Agents Company Limited's estate agent redress scheme is one such regulatory body that agents can become a member of. The scheme must be one approved by the Office of Fair Trading. Your particular estate agent should state somewhere on their lettehead or website what regulatory body they belong to. I would start there.

Hope this helps!

jimc_2

wildcardsa wrote: »

Maybe a legal gizmo on this site should write up a template letter with deling with this sort of thing?.

I'm not a legal eagle but this form of words was suggested on the fsbo site.

It's important to AVOID blame accusations such as 'rubbish service', 'no viewings' or the like when ending the agreement. This will only get lawyers involved and make matters worse.

You don't need to justify yourself in any way to withdraw an instruction from an Agent. Just check your agreements to see what weasel words they've got in about 'notice periods' and give them the notice they need. YOU DON'T NEED TO SAY WHY IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM. The suggested words in the link give them the opportunity to say what 'introductions' they feel they've made so you can avoid retrospective claims for commission.