2 estate agents fighting over fees - advise plse.

ocalllo

HI

I had my hse listed with an agent for a few months, we were not happy and wanted to switch agents. The New Agent specifically asked us to find out if there were any prospective buyers from the last agent to eliminate them from their new contract.

I requested the names twice in writing from the old agent of anyone who had been to see our house and he never provided them, so we signed with new agent with no exclusions.

NOW we have an offer but old agent is claiming the fees as he said he first introduced the buyer when we were with him and can prove it.

We are not making any money on this sale and cannot afford to pay 2 lots of fees - which agent do i pay? Both agents are talking to buyer, im only talking to current agent.

Cannon_Fodder

Are the first agents members of NAEA ? They should have been adhering to the Code Of Practice...

http://www.naea.co.uk/help/cop.aspx
http://www.naea.co.uk/uploads/COP/OEACodeSales%20Part%201.pdf
Duration and Termination
3L


Fee Entitlement and Liability
3N
3P

ocalllo

yes they are registered here.

We never received any written confirmation as mentioned in 3n - is this enough to tell him to go jump?

i don't really understand the second part of 3m - dual fees...does this apply here? both were Sole Agency Contracts.

The first agents does have a clause in his contract stating that if we later sell to someone they had introdeced then they get a fee - but by him failing to provide these details when requested - does he still have a claim?

Or, is it his sale and should the new agent be the one loosing out on the fee?

i just don't know which one of them i should be arguing with.

maninthestreet

The fee is paid to the agent through which the buyer submitted their offer to buy your property. There is existing case law for this situation - merely introducing the buyer to a property is not sufficient - the EA must introduce the buyer to the property purchase itself.

ocalllo

Buyer made the offer to our old agent as they are dealing with the sale of their house. So old agent rang me out of the blue and said we have an offer and it is our sale.
I objected due to them failing to provide names and went to speak to my current agent to see where we stand. Current agent said they would talk to old agent and 'sort it out', but i have stated i cannot afford to pay both fees.

I did not hear anything back so rang my current agent and they chased buyer, who had not heard i had rejected the offer. Buyer supposed to be ringing my current agent with new offer today - so i just want to see where i stand.

I have not heard anything from old agent, but this is why we canxd them due to sever lack of communications.

jockosjungle

So they submitted an offer when the first agent was no longer your agent?

Well more fool the first agent in my opinion, ask to see the contract from the period they submitted their offer saying you owe them money.

R

googler

ocalllo wrote: »

Buyer made the offer to our old agent as they are dealing with the sale of their house. So old agent rang me out of the blue and said we have an offer and it is our sale.

Ask the old agent how they propose to accept an offer on a property for which they don't have a valid sales contract - i.e. which isn't on their books....

maninthestreet

So you rejected the offer from the buyer when submitted via the first agent, because the agent was no longer your agent, i.e contract had already been terminated. The first agent doesn't stand a chance here if the same buyer now submits an offer via your current agent that you accept.

ocalllo

update

just received call from current agent saying they are 'going 50/50 on fees' so hopefully that sorts it out, just need it in writing.

thanks for all your advise guys - have a list of questions from potential buyer to confirm before she up's her offer so off to read 50-60 pages of Deeds!!!

lets hope she puts in a real offer after all this.

DVardysShadow

ocalllo wrote: »

...
I requested the names twice in writing from the old agent of anyone who had been to see our house and he never provided them, so we signed with new agent with no exclusions.

Wise move. Does tend to make their position look stupid.

jockosjungle

Don't worry about it then, looks like the agents have sorted it out.

Nice to kno for the future, I once told my brother about a house for sale which he ended up buying, never knew I could claim a commission!

R