Pls help... underhand agent cutting in

quietweirdenough

Please can someone advise...

We were in a sole agency agreement with One agent (Agent A) the tie in period has expired, however need to give 7days notice to terminate the contract.

We had a call from Agent A saying that we had a request for viewing in 5 days time stating their surname. This buyer subsequently cancelled their viewing.

My partner was then called by another agent (agent who was adamant that they could sell our house and had a buyer who wanted to view straight away. Agent B arranged a viewing the next day over the phone and stated we would need to sign a viewing only contract which would be valid for two weeks. This was signed by my partner who is not the property owner the agent did not go into full detail and did not allow time to read as the potential buyers were already walking through the front door. The people that viewed the property on that day were infact the very same people that had arranged a viewing with our main agent (Agent A)

Agent B did not seek authority from myself to conduct this viewing nor have I had any communication with this agent.

The potential buyer has told us that they had contacted our Agent (Agent A) but because they wanted to view sooner so had gone through the second agent (Agent .

Where do we stand in terms of our viewing only contract from the second agency (Agent ?
We believe that agent B has been very underhand and would not give us the surname of the potential buyer knowing that they had already arranged a viewing through Agent A.
We would like to proceed with the sale through agent A however not sure if we would be liable to pay fees to Agent B even though they were already on the books and hand arranged a viewing with Agent B.
Sorry for the long read and hope its not too confusing, Any advice would be much appreciated...

googler

If you're the owner, you don't have a contract with agent B. You would also seem to still have a contract with A

It was up to agent B to ensure they were taking instruction from the owner of the property, not the owner's partner, sister, or whoever was in the house at the time.

I'm not getting why the viewer approached Agent B. If the property is being marketed with A, why would the viewer think B had any involvement, or had any selling rights? Have you approached agent B?

Has the viewer made an offer?

Fire_Fox

Welcome! Ask your partner not to sign anything without your authority and not to sign anything he has not read, it is not down to the agent to 'allow' time you take it. Why was your partner called, how did the agent have his number?

BobQ

From what you say this could turn out to be a fine mess. Not sure but I imagine that any agreement you sign with an agent includes a statement that the signatory is the owner or is authorised to sell for the owner. If so your partner's willingness to sign without reading may put them in a difficult position.

You have sole agency agreement with Agent A so if the proposed buyer was originally introduced by them and they buy you are obliged to pay their commission. It probably applies if you sell it to them up to six months after you have terminated the contract.

Equally Agent B could decide to claim commission on the sale. Any denial that your partner is not the owner might mean they could claim damages from your partner for the lost commission. But this would depend on what your partner signed.

Personally I would not sell to this buyer at all and I would give Agent A notice of termination. Alternatively just accept that may have to pay commision twice. If of course you have a contract with an agent who has a commission for introducing a buyer who is ready willing and able to complete (ie whether they buy or not) you may have no choice in the matter.

googler

BobQ wrote: »

Equally Agent B could decide to claim commission on the sale. Any denial that your partner is not the owner might mean they could claim damages from your partner for the lost commission. But this would depend on what your partner signed.

Claim damages on what basis? They got someone at the property to sign their contract, and, on the face of it, didn't establish who that person was or whether they owned the property. What on earth could they claim damages for?

ScotlandM

googler wrote:

Claim damages on what basis? They got someone at the property to sign their contract, and, on the face of it, didn't establish who that person was or whether they owned the property. What on earth could they claim damages for?

Perjury

Because your partner signed a legal document. If there is a section that says "

BobQ wrote:

the signatory is the owner or is authorised to sell for the owner.

" then your partner has lied on paper on a contract. It is not up to agent B to prove something your partner has admitted.

However, you'll have to check what was signed because it may not say anything like that, though probably does.

So, agent B sues your partner for lost comission. Nothing to do with the house or you but because your partner lied on legal paper work. Perjury

maninthestreet

In this sitatuation, it may be the agent though which the buyer submits their offer that is the agent that gets the commission.

quietweirdenough

googler wrote: »

I'm not getting why the viewer approached Agent B. If the property is being marketed with A, why would the viewer think B had any involvement, or had any selling rights? Have you approached agent B?

Has the viewer made an offer?

Viewer is selling through Agent B who is very pushy.

We originally purchased the property through this agent B over 5 years ago.

I believe that agent B is trying to get double whammy by selling the prospective buyer's property and selling ours to them.

quietweirdenough

Hi, thanx for the replies back so far...

Here is an update on the current state of play:

Because the agreement was signed at our home the contract stated we had a 7 day cool off period to cancel which we wanted to exercise amongst highlighting the discrepencies in regards to not being the home owner and being in a sole agency agreement with Agency A already. My partner has been to the office of Agent B and stated once again that they are not the home owner and did not have enough time to read through the contract.

The Agent tried ascertain whether we are joint owners however we are not, so this was once again confirmed. Contract was then voided by the agent and my partner has retained all copies of this void agreement. The Agent seemed sheepish about the matter and stated that we were not on their books anyway. They then asked if we would like to come onto their books so they could actively advertised our property on a proper contract with full details of sale fees etc!?! Lol (nice try) it was reiterated that they need to speak to the owner.

However as a passing comment when leaving the office the Agent stated that if the introduced prospective buyer made an offer then they were intitled to fees. At this point my partner stated once again that they are not the homeowner and they need to take instructions from me the homeowner.

Once again I have not had any communications with the agency directly... Does that mean that I am out of any agreement with Agent B?

If the prospective buyer decided to view through Agent A and persue a purchase throught them would I be free from having to pay fees to Agent B?

As a side note I have had a quick look at NAEA rules of conduct from the naea website (cannot post pdf link) and it appear that Agent B has broken a number of rules including Rule 7 (4) - "Before accepting instructions a member shall ascertain whether the prospective client has given the sole agency and/or sole selling rights to another agency. No attempt shall be made to induce the breaking of a valid sole agency and/or sole selling rights contract."

As always your feedback and replies are much appreciated!

googler

ScotlandM wrote: »

Perjury

Because your partner signed a legal document.

It's not perjury. Perjury is an offence of lying when under oath. I'll quote Wikipedia until the real legislation can be found;

"Perjury is a statutory offence in England and Wales. It is created by section 1(1) of the Perjury Act 1911. Section 1 of that Act reads:
(1) If any person lawfully sworn as a witness ........ makes a statement material in that proceeding, which he knows to be false or does not believe to be true, he shall be guilty of perjury .....

(2) The expression "judicial proceeding" includes a proceeding before any court ......... examine evidence on oath.

(3) Where a statement made for the purposes of a judicial proceeding .............

(4) A statement made by a person lawfully sworn in England for the purposes of a judicial proceeding-
(a) in another part of His Majesty’s dominions .........

(5) Where, for the purposes of a judicial proceeding in England ....."

If the person signing wasn't under oath as defined in the legislation (which I'll assume to be as per this Wiki for the time being), then they can't be guilty of perjury....

chewmylegoff

quietweirdenough wrote: »

Hi, thanx for the replies back so far...

Here is an update on the current state of play:

Because the agreement was signed at our home the contract stated we had a 7 day cool off period to cancel which we wanted to exercise amongst highlighting the discrepencies in regards to not being the home owner and being in a sole agency agreement with Agency A already. My partner has been to the office of Agent B and stated once again that they are not the home owner and did not have enough time to read through the contract.

The Agent tried ascertain whether we are joint owners however we are not, so this was once again confirmed. Contract was then voided by the agent and my partner has retained all copies of this void agreement. The Agent seemed sheepish about the matter and stated that we were not on their books anyway. They then asked if we would like to come onto their books so they could actively advertised our property on a proper contract with full details of sale fees etc!?! Lol (nice try) it was reiterated that they need to speak to the owner.

However as a passing comment when leaving the office the Agent stated that if the introduced prospective buyer made an offer then they were intitled to fees. At this point my partner stated once again that they are not the homeowner and they need to take instructions from me the homeowner.

Once again I have not had any communications with the agency directly... Does that mean that I am out of any agreement with Agent B?

If the prospective buyer decided to view through Agent A and persue a purchase throught them would I be free from having to pay fees to Agent B?

As a side note I have had a quick look at NAEA rules of conduct from the naea website (cannot post pdf link) and it appear that Agent B has broken a number of rules including Rule 7 (4) - "Before accepting instructions a member shall ascertain whether the prospective client has given the sole agency and/or sole selling rights to another agency. No attempt shall be made to induce the breaking of a valid sole agency and/or sole selling rights contract."

As always your feedback and replies are much appreciated!

i think you may still need to be rather careful about selling to this particular buyer. even though agent B has agreed to your request to exercise the "cooling off" clause in the agreement, and has "voided" the contract, and you have documentary evidence of that, if you proceed with the buyer that agent B introduced, those actions could be found to be consistent with you reversing your decision to terminate the agreement your OH signed with agent B. i presume they haven't been so explicit as to positively state in writing that they waive any claim for commission if the person they "introduced" buys (indeed they verbally stated that they did not).

whilst it does appear that agent B would be on difficult ground trying to claim a commission payment, i don't think their chance of doing so would be 0%. i should stress that i am not a contract law expert by any means, but if i was in this situation i think i would prefer to just try to sell it to someone else.

if agent B is acting in the sale of your "buyer"'s house as well, you could attempt to persuade them to drop (formally, in writing, in a legally watertight document) any claim for commission re: your property on the grounds that it will derail your transaction and therefore they will have to wait longer for the commission from the other sale as well. but if you're going down that route you'll need to pay for proper legal advice to make sure that you don't get screwed somehow.