Need to complain about our estate agent

Buchanan

We have a sale going through on our property which is due to exchange and complete on 3rd July. We emigrated to Australia in Jan and our house has been left empty and in the hand of the estate agents. My parents who live 20 miles fro our UK property have been keeping an eye on it and removing items which we did not ship out. Two weeks ago my parents went round to cut the grass, to their surprise it had already been cut and there was a lawnmower in the playhouse. My brother who was with them phoned the agents to see if they knew anything and they had allowed the purchasers to cut the grass, didn't mind too much about that but told the agent it would have been nice to be asked if we minded. My brother went round last Thursday to find the oil tank had been filled and a number of items had been left in the garage - we can only assume by the purchasers. The key for the garage was in the house so obviously the agents have given them the key. We are non too happy about this as they have not got permission from us to do that and a contact has not even been signed yet. We are furious with the agents, which is difficult 11,000 miles away and want to complain about this to someone but not sure who. We have spoken to the agents who said they would look into it. We are paying £3,700 to them for selling our property and would love to have some of this refunded. They must have broken the law somehow - what if the purchasers move in and claim squatters rights?:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

princessamy86

Under NO circumstances are they allowed to do this without your permission- I have dealt with a few sales where the vendor has allowed things to be stored at the propert, but only after exchange and only ever with us keeping hold of the keys. Is the agent a member of the ombudsman or NAEA?

googler

Get your parents to take the items out of the garage, and place them on the pavement or street. They've been placed on your property without your consent. Do this on a weekday, and phone the agent as they do this to tell the purchaser to come and pick up his stuff. Probably not practical to do this with a tank of oil, though - unless you decant it into cans.....

Get your parents to change the locks or put an additional lock on, so that the agent or the purchaser can't get in. Don't hand these new keys over until the property settles, on the agreed entry date. It's still your house, and you can do what you want with it.

If the EA is a member of the NAEA or OEA, that's one avenue of complaint, but note that the OEA (Ombudsman) won't consider your complaint unless you've been through the EA's own complaints procedure first. Failing these two, local Trading Standards department.

Buchanan

They are regulated by RICS, Ombudsman and NAEA.

Trying_to_be_good

You might also want to consider the possibility that putting the purchasers' property out on the street may really hack them off and they may pull out of the deal.

If you want just to annoy the EA, take the stuff to their offices.

Put in a written complaint etc about the EA's conduct, but only hack off the purchaser if you're prepared to lose them.

Buchanan

Really don't want to annoy the purchasers at this late stage, just want the EA dealt with!!!

princessamy86

Definitely put in a formal complaint then, make sure everything is in writing and with recorded delivery, follow their complaints procedure and if it is not resolved to your satisfaction then contact the Ombudsman. I wouldn't particularly bother with NAEA as they don't have as much power as the Ombudsman. Make it very plain that you expect a reduction in fees as they have behaved very unprofessionally! I can't believe they would do this, the regulations on keys are so strict.

Buchanan

Are these regulations set out anywhere as it would be great to quote them?

googler

google 'OEA NAEA RICS code of practice residential sales' and that should cause them to appear on page 1 of the search results .... delete any of OEA NAEA RICS if you want to be selective

bryanb

EA will probably say they had your verbal permission. Where do you go then?

googler

bryanb wrote: »

EA will probably say they had your verbal permission. Where do you go then?

You contradict them in writing and insist that they didn't. You ask them to cite a phone call or conversation (date, time) when this permission was granted, or show any note that they made in a file of this permission.