Are Estate Agents 'allowed' to lie?

Baxter100

So you call up the estate agent and ask to have a look at a house. "Oh sure, but please be aware that it's very popular and we've already had two bids in the last couple of days".

Is it true? Who knows! But are there actually any codes/regulations/standards that say specifically what estate agents can and cannot tell you? Or are they legally allowed to basically say what they want in order to try and get you to put a bid in or up your offer on a house?

princeofpounds

There are laws on misdescriptions of the property itself (recently updated so I can't remember which act it is now).


But in practice you would have to prove it, which means that as long as it's not written down they can say pretty much what they want. Which is why you ask them (or more likely the vendor through their solicitor) to write down anything critical.

Surrey_EA

It is an offence for an estate agent to claim there is an offer when it is not true, although as princeofpounds rightly highlights it's not always easy to prove.

Always worth remembering that the difference in commission to an estate agent from a higher offer is not terribly great. The sale is the most important thing to an EA, whilst of course they are there to obtain the best possible price for their client.

Pixie5740

If your lips are moving, If your lips are moving
If your lips are moving, then you’re lyin’, lyin’, lyin’, baby
If your lips are moving, If your lips are moving
If your lips are moving, then you’re lyin’, lyin’, lyin’, baby

Baxter100

What would happen in a hypothetical situation where you put in an offer in on a house, the estate agent then contacts you to say that a higher offer has come in from someone else (completely made up), and that in order to buy the house you would need to match this higher offer.

If there was complete and undeniable proof of some kind (hypothetically) that the estate agent had lied about the other offer (and consequently resulted in you upping your offer), is there any kind of potential comeback on the agent? Or is it generally just accepted that those are the rules of 'playing the game', and that the agent has actually done well by their client.

Baxter100

Surrey_EA wrote: »

It is an offence for an estate agent to claim there is an offer when it is not true, although as princeofpounds rightly highlights it's not always easy to prove.

Always worth remembering that the difference in commission to an estate agent from a higher offer is not terribly great. The sale is the most important thing to an EA, whilst of course they are there to obtain the best possible price for their client.

What would be the punishment for the offence?

Mocha61

We were recently told that an EA can tell you that an offer has been put forward but not how much, also if you ask them something regarding the property ie if the previous sale fell through because of results of survey and you ask they have to tell you, not sure if they would though.

Surrey_EA

Not entirely sure what the punishment would be. Used to be something that was enforced by the Office of Fair Trading, but now passed to the property ombudsman I believe.

I suppose in the hypothetical situation given, the buyer would need to lodge a complaint with the property ombudsman, who operate a redress scheme, which all estate agents must be a member of. If it could be proven that an agent invented an offer that resulted in a buyer increasing their original offer unnecessarily, then the ombudsman has the power to award compensation to the buyer.

There is nothing stopping an estate agent disclosing to a buyer the amount of another offer, it is up to them and their client whether this information is passed on.

Hoploz

It would be difficult to obtain proof that another offer was made up.

They would be risking you walking away if they told you there was a higher offer and there wasn't. They just want a sale. Any sale, pretty much. So I personally don't think half the stories about estate agents lying are true.

Alex_NJ

If you feel you have been lied to, you can threaten to report them to the property ombudsman.

I'm not sure how much weight it carries but it's better than nothing

Surrey_EA

Hoploz wrote: »

It would be difficult to obtain proof that another offer was made up.

They would be risking you walking away if they told you there was a higher offer and there wasn't. They just want a sale. Any sale, pretty much. So I personally don't think half the stories about estate agents lying are true.

Very, very few EAs would be daft enough to run that risk. Why jeopardise a sale that is likely to be earning the company £000's, just to gain another £50/£100, of which the individual may see less than £10?

It's not worth it.