compensation from Estate Agent ??

googler

martinjade wrote: »

Just amused at the so called expert advice, from people who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

...and you're complaining about another poster 'belittling' you.....?

martinjade

poppy10 wrote: »

You are quite right. The estate agent should have asked the other buyer about his income, assets and expenditure before listening to his offer, and should have handed over this personal financial information to you. It is clear the EA was directly responsible for you choosing to pay £45,000 more than you had planned - you bear no responsibility for your own actions.

Compensation Cat says... you should be awarded at least £2 million in damages.

Very funny

Shame you don't put the long hours you spend online to good use !!

Anyway, not sure if this is important or not as it doesn't compete with pictures of cats, but its an extract from the OFT website, so some of your comments are nearly correct, funnily enough in a sort of boring way !!

Making misleading statements


It is illegal to mislead buyers or sellers in any way. Specifically, you must not give misleading information about:

• offers for a particular property, or invent bids
• the existence or status of any potential buyer.

A statement that is factually true might be presented in a misleading way. You must take care to avoid this.

Examples of misleading statements:

• You cannot claim to have first time or cash buyers, unless you can show why you think this is true.
• You cannot advertise or claim that you have potential buyers, unless you can prove that this is true.

lincroft1710

martinjade wrote: »

It is illegal to mislead buyers or sellers in any way. Specifically, you must not give misleading information about:

• offers for a particular property, or invent bids
• the existence or status of any potential buyer.

A statement that is factually true might be presented in a misleading way. You must take care to avoid this.

Examples of misleading statements:

• You cannot claim to have first time or cash buyers, unless you can show why you think this is true.
• You cannot advertise or claim that you have potential buyers, unless you can prove that this is true.

I would think there are very few EAs who would not be guilty of some part of the above. But how many have ever been prosecuted/sued?

sunshinetours

lincroft1710 wrote: »

I would think there are very few EAs who would not be guilty of some part of the above. But how many have ever been prosecuted/sued?

Proving misrepresentation when done verbally is presumably incredibly difficult is one reason!

Estate Agency is not properly regulated in the same way as say the legal or accounting profession, which is one reason I have an issue with it being called a profession in the first place.

Regardless of the stated NAEA guidelines etc the actual reality of how EA's are monitored is at best pretty weak. Until some compulsory registration and real sanctions and practice assurance monitoring is enforced, there will be many many rogue agents out there. As a balance there are of course plenty of decent agents who take their jobs seriously and look to make good money for the long term rather than purely short term. Its finding them that is the problem

googler

sunshinetours wrote: »

Estate Agency is not properly regulated in the same way as say the legal or accounting profession, which is one reason I have an issue with it being called a profession in the first place.

Regardless of the stated NAEA guidelines etc the actual reality of how EA's are monitored is at best pretty weak. Until some compulsory registration and real sanctions and practice assurance monitoring is enforced....

As a 'starter for two', there's the Estate Agency Act and the Property Misdescriptions Act; both are the law of the land; are these not 'proper regulation' ?

The PMA carries penalties of many thousands of pounds - that's not a 'real sanction'?

What would you suggest for 'practice assurance monitoring'?

sunshinetours

googler wrote: »

As a 'starter for two', there's the Estate Agency Act and the Property Misdescriptions Act; both are the law of the land; are these not 'proper regulation' ?

The PMA carries penalties of many thousands of pounds - that's not a 'real sanction'?

What would you suggest for 'practice assurance monitoring'?

You can have whatever Acts you like - if they are not enforced and formal regulation (real regulation not pretend one) of financial standards for a start, you get effectively an unregulated industry

Practice Assurance sets minimum standards in the quality control of all aspects of work. Monitoring takes the form of self reviewing and also monitoring visits by an independent body that has proper sanctions available ie removal of licences, fines as you mention etc

Until you have compulsory proper sign up to a national body such as NAEA thsi will all be a non starter

In general my firm would not do any work for a new Estate Agency practice unless we had money up front or regular monthly payments. We don't have many other trade sectors that we insist on that

googler

sunshinetours wrote: »

In general my firm would not do any work for a new Estate Agency practice unless we had money up front or regular monthly payments. We don't have many other trade sectors that we insist on that

and your firm operates in what sector? Accountancy? Conveyancing? Tax Advice?

sunshinetours

googler wrote: »

and your firm operates in what sector? Accountancy? Conveyancing? Tax Advice?

Part of of my offerings include regulated audits - solicitors, conveyancers, insurance co's and other FSA registered businesses and some Estate Agents and Lettings Agents that hold client money