Estate agent refusing to accept termination of services

Jaynorth_2

G_M wrote: »

The problem is the lack of evidence.

You gave them written notice, but have no Royal Mail 'proof of posting' and not even your own copy of the letter (did you write it on computer? Might it be on your hard drive somewhere....?)

Therefore the risk is that you employ a new agent, who finds you a buyer, and the old agent sends you a bill claiming you still have a sole agency contract with them.

Yes I still have a copy of the letter but no proof of posting. If the old agent sends me a bill then he is really just trying it on because he has not produced any viewings for me in over a month so how can they justify a bill?

DVardysShadow

Jaynorth wrote: »

But I did give notice within the 6 week period which is allowed within the contract and the contract does state that you have to give written notice if you want to end the agreement within the sole agency period or even after the period has lapsed when you are just continuing to market your property through them. So either way a written notice is required if you want to stop using their services and 28 days is the required notice which I gave them when I wrote the letter last month.

I cannot believe they are just trying to behave like b*****ds and it just proves I was right to stop using them.

Yes you gave them notice and then you effectively allowed the Agent to manage you into implicitly rescinding the notice by reviewing the situation to address the issues.

G_M wrote: »

The problem is the lack of evidence.

You gave them written notice, but have no Royal Mail 'proof of posting' and not even your own copy of the letter (did you write it on computer? Might it be on your hard drive somewhere....?)

Therefore the risk is that you employ a new agent, who finds you a buyer, and the old agent sends you a bill claiming you still have a sole agency contract with them.

I don't think proof of sending is the issue here - it it that the Agent now has tenuous but plausible evidence that the contract was rescinded.

Jaynorth_2

So how many times do I have to give notice? I gave notice barely 2 weeks into the agreement as a safe guard because that was the only way to have the option of ending the contract in the event of them not selling my property but I still expected them to do their job up to the end of the sole agency period or are you saying that by still meeting with the agent during this period even after giving notice I implicitly rescinded the notice?

And from a purely human point of view, why would you kick up a fuss when you have not provided any viewings in over a month and the 2nd of only 2 viewings that you did provide, your customer (me) had to call up and almost beg them to find someone to view?

DVardysShadow

Jaynorth wrote: »

So how many times do I have to give notice? I gave notice barely 2 weeks into the agreement as a safe guard because that was the only way to have the option of ending the contract in the event of them not selling my property but I still expected them to do their job up to the end of the sole agency period or are you saying that by still meeting with the agent during this period even after giving notice I implicitly rescinded the notice?

And from a purely human point of view, why would you kick up a fuss when you have not provided any viewings in over a month and the 2nd of only 2 viewings that you did provide, your customer (me) had to call up and almost beg them to find someone to view?

I am saying that you have been a little vague and you have let yourself be mugged by the agent.

still no viewings so 2 weeks ago as we were approaching the end of their sole agency period I went in to see the branch manager so that we could review the situation and address it.

'Reviewing the situation and addressing it', if you used words like that is sufficiently vague to allow the agent to claim that you had effectively rescinded the notice. Unless you actually said something along the lines I. Did you actually discuss the notice with the agent in this meeting? I am guessing that you did not, because you don't mention it here. It is very nearly enough for the agent to make out the contract is rescinded on its own.

Jaynorth_2

Hmmm, well maybe I should have brought it up every time I spoke to him and reminded him that I had given notice but I still think reviewing the situation and addressing it before the end of the notice period/sole agency agreement should not allow the agent to claim that I had rescinded the notice.

Anyway I have instructed a new agent and sent a letter to the old agent summarising what was mentioned via email and referring back to my notice letter sent over a month ago.

DVardysShadow

Jaynorth wrote: »

Hmmm, well maybe I should have brought it up every time I spoke to him and reminded him that I had given notice but I still think reviewing the situation and addressing it before the end of the notice period/sole agency agreement should not allow the agent to claim that I had rescinded the notice.

Although I am in sympathy with where you find yourself, your problem is just inherent in what you say. If you go in to the agent and say "Let's review the situation" you can only agree that 'the situation' includes the notice which has been tendered. So whatever you agree can, not entirely unreasonably, be understood to be a full statement of the way forward. This is where you fell down. As you did not say anything about notice in the review, you have effectively rescinded the notice by omission.

If you had gone in and said "let's review how you will handle my sale until notice expires" you would be in a very different situation. FWIW, you could argue with justification that notice was given and the contract is up. But you have made it 10 times harder for yourself by being inclusive by default and less than specific with your use of the term 'the situation'.

Conrad

Jaynorth wrote: »

And from a purely human point of view, why would you kick up a fuss when you have not provided any viewings

Typically the reason for this is that the agent is protecting themselves from you trying to avoid paying thier fee as there is always the chance a seller has done a secret deal with one of the agents applicants, or with another agency during the contracted period.


I've been in the business 20 years and there's only 1 reason a property gets no viewers. Price. ANY property attracts lots of viewers if correctly priced. The hardest job of an agent is getting owners to recognise value reality - it's a bit like trying to tell a proud parent thier kid isn't quite the singer they thought they were.

bb169

Sorry to hijack your thread but does the estate agents you are having problems with begin with PA?

Jaynorth_2

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Although I am in sympathy with where you find yourself, your problem is just inherent in what you say. If you go in to the agent and say "Let's review the situation" you can only agree that 'the situation' includes the notice which has been tendered. So whatever you agree can, not entirely unreasonably, be understood to be a full statement of the way forward. This is where you fell down. As you did not say anything about notice in the review, you have effectively rescinded the notice by omission.

If you had gone in and said "let's review how you will handle my sale until notice expires" you would be in a very different situation. FWIW, you could argue with justification that notice was given and the contract is up. But you have made it 10 times harder for yourself by being inclusive by default and less than specific with your use of the term 'the situation'.

Well I think it is subjective but the agent should know that by me sending that notice and not rescinding it verbally or at least by email, the option is always there for me to use it as a get out clause.

Typically the reason for this is that the agent is protecting themselves from you trying to avoid paying thier fee as there is always the chance a seller has done a secret deal with one of the agents applicants, or with another agency during the contracted period.


I've been in the business 20 years and there's only 1 reason a property gets no viewers. Price. ANY property attracts lots of viewers if correctly priced. The hardest job of an agent is getting owners to recognise value reality - it's a bit like trying to tell a proud parent thier kid isn't quite the singer they thought they were.

Yes but that would be a good case if the applicant(s) were keen to view and buy my property but as I said earlier, I had to almost beg them to find 1 viewer and it turned out the person was looking on behalf of a family member who had already stated a preference for a different type of property than mine.

If the problem was price then why did the agent value it at the initial price then ask me to drop the price with no follow on event or marketing campaign and not expect me to be slightly angry when 3 weeks after dropping the price there were still no viewings.

No the estate agents are not PA...

DVardysShadow

Jaynorth wrote: »

Well I think it is subjective but the agent should know that by me sending that notice and not rescinding it verbally or at least by email, the option is always there for me to use it as a get out clause.

You need to accept some responsibility for the inherent ambiguity in having a meeting to 'review the situation'. Yes, you can and probably should, fight your corner. But you do need to accept that the waters are muddied and that you allowed the meeting to go ahead under the heading of 'reviewing the situation' without addressing the matter of your notice.