Estate Agents Fees

Waterlily24

I wonder if anyone can help please. I'm trying to help a friend regarding estate agent fees.

!, Contract with existing agent ends today.

2.Last Friday existing agent phoned to make an appointment for someone to view that day. He later phoned to cancel appointment as viewers had something else to do.

3. Contact had been made with other agents for a valuation, due to come last Friday. One of the agents phoned to say that they had someone who wanted to view (last Friday too). An appointment was made and it was the same people who were going to view with the first agents.

4. These people put an offer in which was accepted.

There was a vast difference between the agents fees.

Where does my friend stand regarding the fees? She seems to think that the 1st estate agent must claim his fee (or part of) from the second agent.
The second agents fee is way less than half of the 1st agents fee.

Any help gratefully received.

Hope you can understand what I'm trying to say.

MrsFingersCrossed

This could be tricky. There will be a clause in Agent 1's contract saying something like:


You will be liable to pay (the agreed fee) in the following circumstance:
If contracts are exchanged for the sale of the property after the expiry of the period during which we have sole agency (or sole selling rights or whatever the terms of the agreement) but to a purchaser who was introduced to you during that period or with whom we have had negotiations about the property during that period.


From what you say it would appear that the first approach about this buyer was through Agent A. That would mean they are likely to claim their commission.


When changing estate agents it is usual for agent A to give a list of names they have introduced to be passed to the new agent so the new agent is aware that any approach by those named in the list will, if it goes to exchange of contracts, be excluded from any claim by them for commission. If that makes sense.


Your friend needs to read the small print of Agent A's contract, and request a list of people they introduced to pass to the new agent. If they sell to anyone on that list they should only have to pay commission to Agent A, and this needs to be agreed with Agent B, ideally BEFORE signing their contract (which will have a similar clause, so if there is ever an Agent 3 both lists need to be passed to agent 3).


Hope this makes sense. In law there doesn't seem to be a time limit, which I think is dreadful but there it is. I believe someone once won a case against Foxtons, but that was after 6 months, not days.

MrsFingersCrossed

Back again after re-reading your post. The vendor's obligation is to the estate agent with whom they had the contract, so it would be pie in sky to expect one agent to claim their commission from the other agent, except in a multiple agency contract where that was set out from the start.

Waterlily24

Thank you MrsFingersCrossed.

That's what I thought but she's adamant that I'm wrong. She said she's spoken to her solicitor and he agrees with her. Oh well you can only try to help. She said that the person has to view for there to be any sort of contract and her solicitor agrees with her. She also said how would the estate agent know if the sale had gone through. Well even I could find out if a sale had gone through, maybe not straight away but eventually.

Think I'm going to give up lol

wendyrobson

I had similar situation a few months ago. After a year with one agent I decided to move to another ( was selling empty property as executor) Within few weeks second agent found buyer and we accepted offer. It then turned out that the buyer had in fact viewed the property within the 28 day cancellation period with the first agent. She did not however make any offer and as I had already given notice the first agent didn,t seem interested in pursuing a sale anyway.
I was aware of the double jeapordy and made it clear to 2 Nd agent that they should not deal with anyone who had viewed with first. I was never given details by 1 st agent of the viewers they had dealt with and the 2 Nd agent never suggested it so it certainly isn,t common practise but should be.
The first agent became aware of sale and demanded their fee as well. 2 Nd agent halved fee immediately. 1 st refused but after while they reduced fee by few hundred pound. I was going to refer to ombudsman but quite honestly they wore me down.
Basically estate agents are a set of unregulated sharks and should be regulated like other professional bodies.
Check to see whether the agents have signed up with an ombudsman (voluntary on their part) and give them a call.

Waterlily24

Well, after a bit of research I've found two cases where the Estate Agents took the clients to court and both estate agents lost their case. One was in 2008 not sure when the other one was. Couldn't find any that the Estate Agent had won. So looks like I am wrong!!!!

ACG

Waterlily24 wrote: »

She seems to think that the 1st estate agent must claim his fee (or part of) from the second agent.
The second agents fee is way less than half of the 1st agents fee.

What she think the same if agent 2' fees were higher?

I know that doesnt help but sometimes peoples thoughts are blinded by what they want.