Being Chased for Estage Agents Fees

craigmc

We used a local independent estate agents to sell our house which was completed in Jan 2004.

We have just arrived from a weekend away and received a notice of legal proceedings from them for £1450 (the fee) plus interest which amounts to £1300. Total £2700

When we completed we instructed the solicitor not to pay the agent as we were extremely unhappy with the service. We felt the process had not gone as smoothly as it should have done and we had to call the agents all the time, they never called us!

I sent numerous letters to the MD and called them back in early 2004 and have heard nothing until this letter.

Any advice?

Thanks
Craig

irnbru_2

craigmc wrote:

We have just arrived from a weekend away and received a notice of legal proceedings from them for £1450 (the fee) plus interest which amounts to £1300. Total £2700

Are they taking you to the small claims court?

craigmc wrote:

I sent numerous letters to the MD and called them back in early 2004 and have heard nothing until this letter.

Do you have proof of this communication?

chant1l

Well, if you have a genuine case and can prove it the judge may see your side. If your case rests on problems with the sale, and lack of return telephone calls then I suspect you have no case. The house sold, you got your money.
My advice would be to seek to reach an agreement, and pay it

aimex

Sorry but they still provided a service which you should have paid for! Im surprised they havent come after you before now to be honest. If you werent happy you should have complained, after you had paid and went from there!

MJMum

We felt the process had not gone as smoothly as it should have done and we had to call the agents all the time, they never called us!

I suspect that in your contract, you agreed to pay the EA if they introduced an applicant to you who subsequently purchased your property. I would strongly suggest paying up now, before you face paying costs as well.

mrcow

We felt the process had not gone as smoothly as it should have done
It never does with house sales

and we had to call the agents all the time, they never called us!
Welcome to the real world

I think that you need to contact them and try to negotiate on the interest payment.

real1314

not withstanding the fact that you should have paid the EA (I'm sure your solicitor would have said you were being hasty/foolish), an interest charge of £1300 on a £1450 debt is not realistic. Missed phone calls might affect the quality of service, but not to the degree of not paying. They sold your house and most people would take a view that you have been trying it on.

8% over base rate might give them something like £200 p.a at most, although I'd assume some fees might be involved, maybe £100. Maximum charge of £700 for interest.

Offer them £1500 - £2000 to settle, they'll win their fee in court, but not all their interest.
The fact that they haven't chased the debt doesn't count against them, they'll just say that they've been patient, although not chasing the debt may affect their ability to charge interest. It might be worth getting your copy of the contract out.

MJMum

Many contracts have a clause to the effect that if you don't pay within a certain period of time, the % fee increases to a punitive rate. So...it could be worse?

real1314

A fee that almost doubles is unlikely to be supported by a court, interest would be, if reasonable.

Paul_Herring

an interest charge of £1300 on a £1450 debt is not realistic.

Assuming an interest charge of 30% (not impossible - look at some credit cards) compounded interest would reach £1300 after around 2 years 3 months (2 years 8 months at 25%).

Given the OP "called them back in early 2004" I'd say it's realistic (but swinging, if indeed these are the rates being charged.)

david29dpo

in hindsight, it may have been better to pay what you thought was a "reasonable" fee, explaining why, it writing, why you not paying the full amount. i court will see this action a lot better than paying nothing. you may still be able to do this.