Estate agent 'forcing' us to use their solicitors

[Deleted User]

I've been having the very same issue (also a FTB buying in London) with agents giving me the hard sell on using their solicitor. Really useful to see everyone's advice on here. I had no idea this was something I could actually report them for. I've also had an offer accepted on a flat that has tenants in it and the vendor wants a quick sale, so I will definitely use that argument if they suggest I'm holding things up in any way.

flukeforce

I'm having the same thing with a house in London and a large agent. The thing is we've had an offer accepted and unfortunately I agreed to use their agent and broker before. What is the worse that could happen other than paying over the odds? Would a solicitor risk their reputation and not act impartially??

Senior_Paper_Monitor

By no means the first time I have quoted this on here ....


Extract from The Property Ombudsman Code of Practicefor Residential Sales (as of 22.02.10)



· as recognized by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)



· as approved by the Office of Fair Trading under its Consumer Codes and Approval Scheme



6.Submission of Offers



6a By law, you must tellsellers as soon as itis reasonablypossible about alloffers that you receive at any time untilcontracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded)unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller has specificallyinstructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm each offer inwriting to the seller, and to the buyer who made it, within two working days.



6b You must keepwritten or computerised record of all offers your receive – including the dateand time of such offers – and the seller’s response. Such records should bemade promptly.



Discrimination



6c By law you must not discriminate, orthreaten to discriminate, against a prospective buyer of the seller’s propertybecause that person declines to accept that you will (directly or indirectly)provide services to them. Discrimination includes – but is not limited to – thefollowing:



· Failing to tell the seller ofan offer to buy the property.



· Telling the seller of an offerless quickly than other offers you have received.



· Misrepresenting the nature ofthe offer or that of rival offers.



· Giving details of propertiesfor sale first to those who have indicated they are prepared to let you provideservices to them.



· Making it a condition that the person wanting to buythe property must use any other service providedbyyou or anyone else.

gazter

Senior_Paper_Monitor wrote: »

By no means the first time I have quoted this on here ....


Extract from The Property Ombudsman Code of Practicefor Residential Sales (as of 22.02.10)



· as recognized by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)



· as approved by the Office of Fair Trading under its Consumer Codes and Approval Scheme



6.Submission of Offers



6a By law, you must tellsellers as soon as itis reasonablypossible about alloffers that you receive at any time untilcontracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded)unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller has specificallyinstructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm each offer inwriting to the seller, and to the buyer who made it, within two working days.



6b You must keepwritten or computerised record of all offers your receive – including the dateand time of such offers – and the seller’s response. Such records should bemade promptly.



Discrimination



6c By law you must not discriminate, orthreaten to discriminate, against a prospective buyer of the seller’s propertybecause that person declines to accept that you will (directly or indirectly)provide services to them. Discrimination includes – but is not limited to – thefollowing:



· Failing to tell the seller ofan offer to buy the property.



· Telling the seller of an offerless quickly than other offers you have received.



· Misrepresenting the nature ofthe offer or that of rival offers.



· Giving details of propertiesfor sale first to those who have indicated they are prepared to let you provideservices to them.



· Making it a condition that the person wanting to buythe property must use any other service providedbyyou or anyone else.

It quotes 'by law' twice. Out of interest which law would that be?

ash28

gazter wrote: »

It quotes 'by law' twice. Out of interest which law would that be?

That would probably be the Estate Agents Act 1979

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/38
and
http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/estate-agents-act/#.UhQK4D_vuIk

mgtr

facebook, twitter, directory enquiries etc etc etc

all useful for contacting vendors directly

cabbage

HI

You should have got a memorandum of sale which shows both sides solicitors, and everyone's name and address. This should tell you the vendors name or go via land reg as per above post.

Ours tried this but was not so heavy handed. I always prefer somewhere local where I can pop in and see someone. In the end the sellers used the EA sols and they caused a few delays not our solicitor.

Ours was great, phoning and emailing updates regularly, always returning calls etc. They took a great deal of time going through the contract papers with my DD (the buyer) as it was her first purchase.

Good luck.

PS we swapped phone numbers with the sellers so that if anything cropped up that was likely to delay the sale we could text each other and it was also useful on completion.

Takenforaride_2

In my case it's the EA that is wasting time, they got me a solicitor over 200 miles away from their panel which had made things impossible, they haven't delivered on their contract and have diabolical communication between themselves. They were meant to take all first viewers and most others around as I work full time and am a single parent. They had a set of keys from the beginning, and we're told my office didn't like us taking personal calls so to contact via email or leave a voicemail on home phone.
I was asked if I could do every viewing and had to say no, and made to feel guilty, then asked each time if they could have keys for the viewing!, now that we're near to exchange it seems to be myself and my buyer chasing things when surely it's The EA job!!
And for all this I'm being charged an extortionate price + VAT.