Disclosure of selling price prior to completion

angrypirate

jools15 wrote: »

Thank you for your responses.We will be taking this up with the ombudsman. However in the mean time I don't think i explained clearly enough my enquiry.

So here goes:

We dismissed Agent A

Enlisted Agent B

Agent B introduces potential buyer 1

Potential buyer 1 is a customer of Agent A

Agent A informs Cutomer 1 of previous selling price.

Agent B informs us.

Is agent A allowed to this this ?

Kindest

Jools

I see no reason why he cant. If he were still your agent he probably wouldnt have told the customer 1 as it would have been in yours (and agent A's) interest. As you have dismissed agent A, unless there is a confidentiality agreement in place, he has no reason to keep it a secret and of no benefit to him. I can see that, likening it to a game of poker, you have just shown your opponent some of your hand but as someone who is looking at properties at the moment, I have been asking agents about previous offers on properties that I know have gone under offer then back on the market. Sometimes ive been given an answer, sometimes just a vague figure.

DVardysShadow

angrypirate wrote: »

So gazumping is where the seller asks for more money for no reason at all.

Gazumping is where they do it for any reason, not just no reason

princeofpounds wrote: »

I'm amazed that people can't spot the humour in orpheus' post.

Hmm. I didn't take it that way, but I take your point. it is a complex issue, with diverse reasons either way. These range from a greedy grab attempted at the last moment to put pressure on the other party to a request made at the earliest opportunity due to some change in calculations making a renegotiation necessary to keep a deal in place.

I don't like to leave the matter with a moral asymmetry between gazumping and gazundering.

DVardysShadow

angrypirate wrote: »

I see no reason why he cant. If he were still your agent he probably wouldnt have told the customer 1 as it would have been in yours (and agent A's) interest. As you have dismissed agent A, unless there is a confidentiality agreement in place, he has no reason to keep it a secret and of no benefit to him.

I think that there is more to it. The Agent is bound by contract to act in his client's best interests. That duty is not dissolved by the termination of the contract insofar as he does not become free to act against the interests of that client. Noted that the buyers are also the Agent's clients - but his duty to act in their best interests does not override his duty to former clients.

The difficulty is that the damage has been done - and it would be difficult to put a value on the damage as OP was already willing to accept the price. I would say the only redress would be through breach of a Trade body Code of Practice. £500 looks like the level of compensation to try for.

spandles

I would be attempted to visit the EA's office during a busy period and complain very loudly (but politely of course!)to the staff about it in front of potential buyers/sellers. It lets them know how reliable the EA is.

The EA won't want clients to hear about his poor service just as you don't want potential buyers knowing your previous negotiations.

Extremely bad practise in my opinion!

Orpheo

spandles wrote: »

... EA's office ... busy period

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

serious_saver

We were told the previous selling price by an EA for a property we viewed. I think it was because we were considering putting in a much lower offer and they wanted to 'emphasise' that the property was worth more. I personally didn't think it was right (we didn't ask for the information).
In my opinion it's dubious for two reasons

1) When the buyer knows the previous selling price they may start to think they can go in even lower. After all it could be a problem with the property that caused the sale to fall through or the vendor may be in a chain and particularly desperate to sell.

2) Alternatively the vendor may be prepared to accept a lower offer and it could put off some buyers if they think their offer has no chance of being accepted.

However I don't see any reason why it would be illegal

InkZ

Agent told me previous selling price on the property we are in the process of buying after it fell through for someone else.

I wouldn't be concerned about it, the buyer now knows what you are prepared to accept and it could even put you in a better position with that viewer?

sonastin

It is not unlawful but it is unethical. You can't sue for a breach of ethics but you can make a complaint. (well, you can sue but you won't win).

And on the other subject in this thread, in the dictionary according to me "gazundering" and "gazumping" are both mechanisms for changing the price at the last minute because you've got the other party over a barrell and no other reason. Getting a better offer immediately after the first offer, or finding out that there is something wrong with the property, or facing a change in circumstances and offering the other party the option to accomodate that change so that the transaction doesn't fold completely are all just part of the reason why the transaction shouldn't be binding until exchange.

jools15

Thank you so much for your posts and opinions.
Will let you know the outcome once we've been through the ombudsman.

Kindest

Jools

tristinh

A good few years ago we were seriously looking at a flat and when we told another EA we were registered with that we didn't want to view one of theirs anymore because we had decided to go for this flat, he told us it was on with them previously and handed me a scrap of paper.... when I left the buidling I looked at it and it had a figure written down on it - their rock bottom price and far less than we WERE going to offer!

It all fell through in the end but I always thought that was a little unproffessional - even though it would have benefited us! Think he just felt sorry for us poor FTBs!!