Naming & shaming website

LOLAF

Hi there,

- Having posted a thread here yesterday about my experience with a dishonest seller
- Having realised from the various responses and other threads on the forum the extent of the problem of undignified buyers & sellers
- Having acknowledged that it will probably take a while for the property law to change (well done to Scotland by the way)
I HAVE A PROPOSITION TO MAKE:
I would like to start a NAMING & SHAMING site/forum where people will be able to tell their stories and name dishonest sellers and buyers. I think many people allow themselves to behave the way they do because they deal with people they do not know and probably will never see again.
I am not sure people will still be treating others the same way if they would know that their friends, colleagues and families will be made aware of their action.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the concept and where would be an appropriate place to publish

mynameisdave

The potential for being sued for potentially libellous statements will be too great to make it worthwhile.

You gain nothing by doing it, so why bother?

JQ.

Personally I think it's ridiculous. I didn't see anyone behaving illegally or particularly dishonest in your other thread. Your buyers got a better offer a couple of days after they'd accepted yours. Had it been 3 months later and you'd incurred legal costs, mortgage costs, Surveyors fees and were days from exchange I could understand you being miffed. But this is the commercial world we all live in. Until you have a signed contract between the parties either side can walk - which can be for the benefit of either party. Had you been in Scotland exactly the same thing would have happened to you - Missives can take months to get signed.

So the first names on the list provided by you would be people who I would not consider had behaved that badly. I can't see it getting any better with time.

googler

LOLAF wrote: »

I would like to start a NAMING & SHAMING site/forum where people will be able to tell their stories and name dishonest sellers and buyers. I think many people allow themselves to behave the way they do because they deal with people they do not know and probably will never see again.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the concept and where would be an appropriate place to publish

Are you going to pay to register the domain name, and for the hosting for the site?

If you do name and shame someone, how will we know you are telling the truth? You're posting here under an alias.

sonastin

If you read the threads about buyers and sellers who really do behave badly, you'll realise that EAs cotton on to them pretty quickly and stop them from wreaking too much havoc through the property market.

While the current system is without doubt flawed, the law of unintended consequences means that this is about as good as it gets. I'd much rather be permitted to pull out after spending a few hundred pounds on professional advice than be committed to spending hundreds of thousands on a worthless house because I'm no expert in crap construction. The difference between the english system and the scottish system is the point at which the offer is put in relative to the point when it becomes a binding contract - it doesn't speed up the process or make it easier to buy property.

80schild

We had a buyer who strung us along right up to the point of exchange when they had ample opportunity to pull out-would be happy to name and shame

LOLAF

googler wrote: »

Are you going to pay to register the domain name, and for the hosting for the site?

If you do name and shame someone, how will we know you are telling the truth? You're posting here under an alias.

Some domains come very cheap or another alternative would be to have a dedicated thread on a forum like this one o another consumers forum.

I still contemplate how can one find out whether the truth is posted. I guess if people name sellers/buyers they can be asked to provide the property/agent details and this will be used for verification purposes....

The_Drama_Llama

Would I get named and shamed? I put in an offer on a place on Friday and withdrew it today.

Or would the sellers in my case get named and shamed? In answer to the direct question 'are the neighbours OK? Any problems? Noise?' they said they were all fine. I went past the property at the weekend and it was horrible: rap music blaring from the neighbouring house, enormous dog barking in the garden, screaming and shouting...sounded like they were filming an episode of Shameless.

Who gets named and shamed?

LOLAF

mynameisdave wrote: »

The potential for being sued for potentially libellous statements will be too great to make it worthwhile.

You gain nothing by doing it, so why bother?

Is posting the truth about people, even if unpleasant, an offence? I am not familiar with defamation law but would not think so. If there is a lawyer on this forum - your insight will be appreciated!

Hopefully the gain will be for society - people will conduct themselves in a more dignified and respectful way

Doozergirl

LOLAF wrote: »

Is posting the truth about people, even if unpleasant, an offence? I am not familiar with defamation law but would not think so. If there is a lawyer on this forum - your insight will be appreciated!

Hopefully the gain will be for society - people will conduct themselves in a more dignified and respectful way

There are legal bods as part of the management of this website. And there have been certain issues that we haven't been allowed to speak about at all on the website, and if there is anything that can be construed as defamatory, it will be removed. Simply by owning this website, Martin can open himself up to potential lawsuits because of things that we say. That would apply to anywhere. If you say something not very nice about people that cannot be substantiated then you stand to put yourself in hot water.

Frankly, I don't see the point. People can only sell a house once. "Mr and Mrs Jones of 3 Acacia Avenue" will be gone soon and the info out of date almost immediately. There is little point trying to start a database of all the little peevs people have. Half the time, they don't even know the names of the people involved! I've dealt with a lot of people, even the experiences I haven't enjoyed I understand that I won't need to deal with them again.

I know you're annoyed, but in the grand scheme it wasn't that bad, especially when you consider that it arose as a result of two estate agents being involved. It's much more likely to happen even without anyone anticipating it. The vendors I am sure didn't intend to upset you but at such an early stage, it's very hard to resist a temptation like that. I don't believe that there is anything particularly wrong in the current house buying system in this country. Anything is open to abuse by people who choose to abuse it.

Fact is, the vendor withdrew very quickly and they have another buyer who is happy at the moment - after all, they're buying the house, not moving in with the vendor.

I'd give it up now. It was evidently hotly contested and you took that sigh of relief way too early, because of your predicament. You can't be blamed for that but there will be a better house and you will understand eventually that there is a good reason that this house didn't work out for you.

iB1

What would be the point? It might make you feel better to rant and get it off your chest, but you're probably best doing that down at the pub with your mates, rather than sticking it on a website. Who gets to verify the information?

As much as it hurts to be messed around - it isn't illegal