Unfair terms in letting agent contract

ox1234

we have sold a house to a tenant.. hidden in the small print the letting agent wants commision for introducing us to the tenant 2 years ago..the OFT has said Foxtons contract is unfair for the same reason, has anyone any experience of taking on the letting agents?

clutton_2

it was not "hidden" - the problem is that you did not read the contract properly .... i think you could refuse to pay, and i think your agents have a case to take you to court for breach of contract and a judge would decide how much, if anything, they are entitled to.

Unfair terms in contracts are not law - they are Office of Fair Trading RECCOMENDATIONS........ OFT do not make the law... the courts do..

the court recently decided that Foxtons made their contracts difficult to read - and that more transparency was required.. i am not sure which, if any, of their clauses were deemed illegal... you would need to read the whole judgement to find out

Hence your agent's final resort will have to be court... but they may try to get it heard in a higher court track (different to small claims) to force you to pay their costs if you lose...

How much are they claiming off you ?


edited


i found a new post on a different forum which is most interestiong from a property specialist lawyer called Tessa Shepperson

""The relevant legislation is the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999,which applies to virtually all tenancy agreements. This provides that if in a contract between a business and a consumer, there is any clause which is unfair, then it will be void and unenforceable.

The OFT who regulate these regulations issued some guidance, last in 2005. They make it clear that any clause providing for a payment to the landlord in cases of rent arrears which does not reflect the actual loss to the landlord (or which is not a reasonable interest clause) is potentially unfair. They mention fixed fees for arrears in this context.

If you have a tenancy agreement containing clauses which are unenforceable under the regulations, you risk this being referred to the OFT and being asked by them to either give an undertaking to remove it in future, or be sued (as in the Foxtons case).

ox1234

1.75% plus vat, this is more than local estate agents charge.