Estate Agent refusing to put forward offer

Yorkie1

natureboss wrote: »

this just happened to me. The agent said that before the vendor was able to accept my offer I needed to talk to the in-house mortgage advisor and get assessed.
Just to add, the advisor said that if I used his in-house service I would be put in pole position.

Which is against the Estate Agents Act - to tell someone they will get preferential treatment if they use inhouse services.

Typically, EA advisors are not whole of market and often not widely experienced in the more tricky cases. They also get to know your finances before your offer has been considered ...

ACG

natureboss wrote: »

Just to add, the advisor said that if I used his in-house service I would be put in pole position.

You can report them to th OFT - http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/estate-agents-act/handling-negotiations#.U2VQOlfkpaM

Or just give them a reminder and tell them you will be reporting them anyway?

mandi

If the agent is a a member of the NAEA The law states that they are legally obliged to submit each & every Offer, regardless of circumstances and finances .

ACG

mandi wrote: »

If the agent is a a member of the NAEA The law states that they are legally obliged to submit each & every Offer, regardless of circumstances and finances .

Unless the contract the vendor signed says to have offers vetted beforehand.

Vendors dont read the contract and do not know what is or isnt "standard".

amnblog

ACG wrote: »

Unless the contract the vendor signed says to have offers vetted beforehand.

Vendors dont read the contract and do not know what is or isnt "standard".

There is no 'law' that is the problem.

There is simply a code of conduct. The code of conduct suggests the agent should take steps to make sure the buyer s in a position to proceed.

Confirmation of an AIP should be acceptable for this.

The OP however should be checking with the post office that the AIP is still valid after MMR and the EA is right to be cautious in this case.

Of course any insistence that their adviser is seen before an offer proceeds is nonsense.

For anyone that is interested I can send you a link to a blog on this very subject.

kingstreet

FWIW the 1979 EA Act does contain a requirement for agents to satisfy themselves that a potential purchaser has the wherewithal to proceed to unconditional exchange of contracts, but the Act is silent on how this is achieved.

Agents use this to their advantage by insisting on purchasers undertaking interview and pressuring them to use agent mortgage services. I don't believe this was the intention of the Act, but back in 1979 there was little mortgage activity among agents. Now it is a completely different matter,

callmechar

Was it Connells? They did this to me when I was buying my house

welliesrgreat

I am having the same problem with Connells. They are insistent that I see their in house FA so she can pre approve me as a premier buyer. I have already shown them an AIP from the Halifax and even my bank statement showing deposit. I have an appointment today and intend to tell them what I think about this process.


In my opinion an estate agent is there to match vendor and seller not to provide me with a mortgage , unless of course I want one! Which I do not!...


If EA's are having to 'push' financial products instead of houses then is this perhaps a turning point in the 'housing boom'?


Not impressed with the EA but they have a large market share of the properties for sale in my area. Grrr./

ACG

welliesrgreat wrote: »

I am having the same problem with Connells. They are insistent that I see their in house FA so she can pre approve me as a premier buyer.

Print off the estate agents act 1979.

They can not put you as a "premier buyer" or anyone else.

Report it to the OFT.

The more people who report them, the sooner it will get looked into and stopped.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Not the first time (and probably not the last) I have published this information sheet (we also have a 'somewhat more earthy' pamphlet we distribute) that we hand most clients ....




We regularly have clients advise us that the estate agents for the property are ‘pressurising’ that “unless you use their broker you may not be able to get the property”- we have no problem with you seeing anyone you wish, BUT it is not legal to ‘make you do so’, nor to indicate that it will ‘impact on your ability to buy the property ifyou do not’.





Additionally, extra ‘credit checks’ / ‘Decisions in Principal’ may adversely affect your credit rating …..





You may find the following extract useful:





Extract from The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice for 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 tell sellers as soon as it is reasonablypossible about all offers that you receive at any time until contracts have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded) unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller has specifically instructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm each offer in writing to the seller, and to the buyer who made it, within two working days.
  
  6b You must keep written or computerised record of all offers your receive – including the date and time of such offers – and the seller’s response. Such records should be made promptly.
  
  Discrimination
  
  6c By law you must not discriminate, or threaten to discriminate, against a prospective buyer of the seller’s property because that person declines to accept that you will (directly or indirectly) provide services to them. Discrimination includes – but is not limited to – the following:
  

• Failing to tell the seller of an offer to buy the property.
  
• Telling the seller of an offer less quickly than other offers you have received.
  
• Misrepresenting the nature of the offer or that of rival offers.
  
• Giving details of properties for sale first to those who have indicated they are prepared to let you provide services to them.
  
• Making it a condition that the person wanting to buy the property must use any other service provided byyou or anyone else.