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Foul Play/case for legal action
Comments
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That's right, Badass. Really, your case against the EA hinges on a single legal point, namely whether your signing the PX agreement terminated your contract with the EA? I don't think that it did, as the PX agreement did not give TW sole rights to market the property, but I am astonished at all the comments disagreeing with me, so maybe I'm wrong.
As to the amount of your loss, you only need to prove this on a balance of probabilities basis, and the price paid by your neighbours is compelling evidence of what could be negotiated without being fettered by a PX agreement.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
All I need at the moment is the exact date we exchanged contracts, if it was say the 26/08/2011 and we completed on the 30/08/2011 I would have a case for argument.
However if we exchanged the week before we were then committed to TW's offer and in the last week they arranged an onward sale in which case I'm beaten lol.
The dates are key and also the contract with the EA.
Do you think If I rang my solicitor up now he would be able to tell me the exact date we exchanged contracts? or would it be a case of his deal is finished so he would want to charge me for the info?0 -
A typical sale takes at least two months from first offer to completion. It's the date that the buyers first made their offer that counts, and there's almost no possibility that was in August. In any case, if that had happened, the agents would have told you so as soon as you complained. If this goes to court, the agents will have to provide full disclosure of all their records, so you'll find out the truth in due course.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0
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That's right, Badass. Really, your case against the EA hinges on a single legal point, namely whether your signing the PX agreement terminated your contract with the EA? I don't think that it did, as the PX agreement did not give TW sole rights to market the property, but I am astonished at all the comments disagreeing with me, so maybe I'm wrong.
Pretty much, and the true answer will only come from legal advice.As to the amount of your loss, you only need to prove this on a balance of probabilities basis, and the price paid by your neighbours is compelling evidence of what could be negotiated without being fettered by a PX agreement.
Where is the loss? The OP sold the house for £140,000, had they sold it privately they'd have got £138,000, so they've actually gained. The EA is not responsible for what the OP does with the money they receive. If I sold my car 3 months ago and bought Greek Bonds I can't go back to the buyer and ask for my money back because I spent my money unwisely. The EA had no involvement in the deal struck between the OP and the developer and therefore is not responsible.0 -
Thanks for that. Well like I said my EA have sent my letter to TW for their side of the story. The fact that I have a response from the EA is good because I at least have some evidence I sent a letter of complaint and we all know it doesn't go down well if complaints are not responded to.
It's interesting that the EA did not comment any further on the issue though! we'll see what happens, I'll get some free advice from a local solicitor and consult the property ombudsman too.0 -
Where is the loss? The OP sold the house for £140,000, had they sold it privately they'd have got £138,000, so they've actually gained. The EA is not responsible for what the OP does with the money they receive. If I sold my car 3 months ago and bought Greek Bonds I can't go back to the buyer and ask for my money back because I spent my money unwisely. The EA had no involvement in the deal struck between the OP and the developer and therefore is not responsible.
So say I brought a case against my EA and won? then what would happen? how would they calculate what I'm owed? I understand what your saying about the loss factor but like I've said, only at exchange of contracts did I commit to paying them the full £199,995 on the basis they were giving me £140,000 for mine, PX basis means 70% trade up.
Up until that point I could have negotiated the price with them but because my EA failed to inform me of another offer I was unaware anything had changed and went ahead presumably "happy" that I was getting the best deal. In actual fact I didn't get the best deal possible and was prevented from doing so and that is no one's fault but the EA's as they never gave me the option to respond to the buyers offer and pursue independantly as TW said I could if I wanted.
A lot of people here seem to think the PX agreement I signed was a legally binding document and somehow believe that I relinquished some of my rights to my property when I signed it?!?!?!?!
TW had the right to market it until I exchanged, nothing more.
Therefore it was the EA's duty to inform me of any changes in proceedings and they did not. Like I said I have no doubts that the offer was passed onto TW from the EA but the EA has shot themselves in the foot by forgetting who the seller was. They should have made sure I was informed in writing to cover themselves and they did'nt.
I mean to be honest a contract to market and sell my house was in place with the EA. Whether it was my original agreement with them, TW's agreement or both, the fact still remains that it is the sellers decision to make before exchange. I decided to sell it to TW as a PX as there were no other offers on the table BUT there was another offer on the table that I was not informed of before exchange and it was the EA's fault, whether the offer was to come via TW or not it makes no difference.
The price my neighbor paid for his house is proof of what could have been achieved.0 -
Where is the loss? The OP sold the house for £140,000, had they sold it privately they'd have got £138,000, so they've actually gained. The EA is not responsible for what the OP does with the money they receive. If I sold my car 3 months ago and bought Greek Bonds I can't go back to the buyer and ask for my money back because I spent my money unwisely. The EA had no involvement in the deal struck between the OP and the developer and therefore is not responsible.
You are right that the loss has to follow reasonably foreseeably from the EA's failure. However, it does, particularly as the EA was aware of the terms of the PX deal and ought to have been aware of how this would hamper negotiations with TW.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
That's right, Badass. Really, your case against the EA hinges on a single legal point, namely whether your signing the PX agreement terminated your contract with the EA? I don't think that it did, as the PX agreement did not give TW sole rights to market the property, but I am astonished at all the comments disagreeing with me, so maybe I'm wrong.
There is more than one way to end a contract. Termination under the provisions of the contract is the obvious one but there are others. I am not sure whether the EA was entitled to interpret the PX agreement as frustration or repudiation or whatever but I do think it was an honest mistake. If this point of law is settled in court, you can bet that every EA and every developer involved in PX agreements will tighten up their standard documents to address the outcome.As to the amount of your loss, you only need to prove this on a balance of probabilities basis, and the price paid by your neighbours is compelling evidence of what could be negotiated without being fettered by a PX agreement.
Equally, the OP's acceptance of "we can't negotiate if is is a PX deal. It must be a 70% uplift" (or whatever) could be argued as evidence that the OP didn't try too hard to negotiate and could equally have bought the line "sorry sir but that is the price of the property. if you aren't willing to pay that then we'll find someone who will". That point is going to come down to who has the most persuasive lawyer presenting the scenario as there won't be any evidence of to prove what you would have done differently. TW might have corporate policies which indicate what they would have done but you don't know if that would help or harm your case.0 -
The PX Offer they make you can never be more than 30% of the price of the house you are buying. That is the maximum, if we had said "I'll give you £180,000 for the PX, they would have just said OK then we will only give you £120,000 for yours. They dictate that.
But regardless of this dictation their PX offer was just that an "offer" which up until exchange of contracts if a better one for us came up that would leave us in a better financial position then we would have gone for it and would have been entitled to as per their PX rules.
So with that being said the EA failed to pass on the offer that they accepted and later followed through with while I was still the registered seller and that is illegal according to the EA Act.
I suppose you could also argue that regardless of my original contract with the EA, the house being advertised belonged to me and up until I legally agreed to sell it to said party at "exchange of contracts" offers should have come my way but didn't.
I mean if you were told, go with the PX and save £1400 on EA fees or pursue this buyer yourself and potentially save £10-£20,000 which would you choose? It is not my job to chase the EA up for potential buyers, it's their duty to inform the seller whether this was via TW or direct to me it still should have happened and didn't. TW only had the right to market it.
With that being said, although I feel TW took advantage of the situation. I know that they did everything that we agreed to so I don't have a problem with them. I do have a problem with the EA though.
Anyways, that's my final rant for now lol, you have all been really helpful and I have taken all the comments on board. It really is a lot to think about and as you can see it is something I feel very strongly about. I will await the EA's second letter after they get a response from TW and let you all know what they say.
Cheers0 -
Good luck with it all, you've taken the comments really well and I hope it all works out for you.0
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