Are estate agents allowed to do this?

lelole

Hi,

We finally agreed an offer on our property today and so were keen to put in an offer on a property we had viewed recently. (i have been with my sister first time, and met vendors, then again with my partner, but no vendors there).

We offered 175k and asking is 198k. This was with a request for a 2nd viewing for my partner one evening this week.

The EA came back quite quickly to say she had spoken to the vendors and they had declined, and gave me a long spiel about how naive and despondent they were, she also said it was too difficult for them to host an evening viewing. She was actually very difficult about us trying to see the house again. To the point I had to remind her that we were serious buyers. I do know she checked with our estate agent to confirm our sale.

Anyway I spoke to my partner and we upped to £182500 to show we are serious, and asked again for a viewing.

I have not heard from the EA, but my sister bumped into the vendors at a local shopping centre. They approached her and said they recognised her, she had viewed the house, and she said yes with me, and that we had sold and offered on their house today.

They then said they had been out all day, and that as they don't use mobiles they wouldn't have picked up any messages yet - and they had no idea that I had offered :eek:

So you can imagine how we feel!!! :mad:

I'm not sure how best to deal with it? I am assuming it's not allowed?

Thanks

Leah

MissMotivation

No, they are not allowed to lie but many do.

The only justification for this is if the Vendor has given them authority to decline offers below a certain amount, however it still doesn't excuse the outright lie the EA told.

I would relay your story to the EA tomorrow and see what their reaction is.

Shocking!

DVardysShadow

lelole wrote: »

So you can imagine how we feel!!! :mad:

I'm not sure how best to deal with it? I am assuming it's not allowed?

Thanks

Leah

I would feel the same. I think you are thinking in totally the wrong frame when you ask 'Is this allowed?' Really you are asking 'Is telling porkies allowed?' as if there were a higher authority which would mediate between you and the EA.

What has happened is you seem to have caught out the EA telling lies - which has led to you inadvertently revealing your negotiating position. In your position, I would withdraw the offer and ask the EA to call a meeting with the vendors, taking your sister along, revealing no more than it is to discuss your offer. Then say what has happened.

Now it may be that the vendors did actually have a conversation with the EA but were playing their own game with your sister. If they were, the situation should encourage them to 'fess up, if they weren't then the EA must carry the can. Then leave the EA and the vendor to sort it out.

Remember, the EA is responsible to the vendor, not to you. So keep a cool head, make it plain you were lied to and then either LEAVE IT or restate the offer as 175. Wait for them to come back and judge the explanation. At least, I would expect the EA to carry the can, even if it was the vendors and you would be dealing with a colleague.

This sort of thing leaves a nasty taste which will sour a deal and the air probably needs clearing if you do want to move forward. I am assuming you are not feeling cucumber cool enough to let this rest and see things through knowing you have been lied to.

Others may have a very different take.

picardygirl

Unbelievable - i have met some wonderful EAs and also some that are awful.

I would telephone or if possible, go into the EA and calmy relay the conversation your sister had with the vendor, you'll get a better response if you go in there as they cant fob you off and say they'll call you back.

If all goes to plan and you do end up going for this house, i would on another viewing ask the vendors if you could contact them direct during the buying process as the EA has already, not been completely up front with you!

Poppy9

So did the vendors accept the second offer?

Years ago we put an offer in on a house and it was promptly declined even though it was near the asking price and we were cash buyers as we had sold and were in rented. Turned out the EA bought the house so I guess they weren't passing on offers. No wonder they had made it so difficult for us to view.

westv

I wonder if it would have made any difference if the OP had held off any offers until they had finsished viewings?

lelole

Hi

I haven't heard anything yet from the EAs regarding my second offer - we made the offer early afternoon and my sister phoned to say she had seen the vendors at about 4pm. I can only assume the EA decided to actually ask them about this offer!!

I did wonder whether it would be best to just knock on their door - and say soemthing along the lines of "hope this isn't inappropriate but my sister said this, and wonder if she has facts muddled..."

dVARDYshadow - thanks for that idea, you are right it is hard to keep cool, but it's vital to do so. To be fair, we did know that the £175k was our silly offer, and was just our opening bid, but it's the fact she is stopping us seeing it too? Though I wonder if that was because we wanted to meet in the evening, and therefore with the vendors, not her.

Poppy - maybe you have hit on the reason!!

Thanks all.,

Leah

lelole

WestV, We made the offer as we were sure we would want the property at that price, however, if we were to pay more we would want to see it again, as my partner has only seen it once. Perhaps we showed our hand a little (in the sense that we would pay more) by asking to view again before the first was rejected...

Surely it's up to the vendors anyway? Our buyer viewed again part way through the offer negotiation, we wanted them to be certain of their decision if they made it...

Leah

Fire_Fox

I'd be inclined to put my offer into writing and mention that you have reason to believe that the initial offer was not put to the vendors at all, that this is illegal, that your confidence in the estate agent is zero as you have been lied to and that you were obstructed from booking a second viewing. Send it to the manager of that estate agents and copy it to the vendors.

googler

If the selling EA is a member of either the OEA or NAEA, they should abide by these organisations' code of practice; both of which state that all offers should be passed on to vendors in a timely fashion, unless the vendor has specifically asked them not to pass on offers meeting certain criteria (below £X, say).

Both of the codes are online - google "OEA code practice" or similar to find them....

chickmug

googler wrote: »

If the selling EA is a member of either the OEA or NAEA, they should abide by these organisations' code of practice; both of which state that all offers should be passed on to vendors in a timely fashion, unless the vendor has specifically asked them not to pass on offers meeting certain criteria (below £X, say).

Both of the codes are online - google "OEA code practice" or similar to find them....

Here is the bit from the NAEA Code of Practise

5. Offers

a) By law you must tell clients as soon as is reasonably possible about all offers that you receive
at any time until contracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded)
unless the offer is an amount or type which the client has specifically instructed you, in
writing, not to pass on. You must confirm such offers in writing at the earliest opportunity and

keep a written or computerised record of all offers you receive