Help with AIP

lauraj91

I am desperately seeking some quick advice on agreements in principle.

I'm a first time buyer and looking to get some advice ona problem I have with a broker. Recently I found a property and immediately fell in love. So I contacted a few brokers to see what the state of play was like with interest rates and deals.

When I made my decision I contacted all of the brokers who had written up agreements in principle and politely declined the ones I wasn't interested in for various reasons.

One of the brokers immediately came back to me demanding a £295 brokers fee for writing up an agreement in principle. Now I never signed anything to say I was content to pay the broker for an AIP but he seems to think I owe him the fee.

I just wondered if anybody could assist on the legality of this claim because none of the other brokers have demanded any money from me.

Any help would be much appreciated being a first time buyer I am very new to all this and there are so many fees that I don't want to be stung with an additional cost if I don't need to pay it!

Malmo

Firstly, why did you approach several brokers for AIPs? Seems a very odd thing to do.

Secondly, did any of these brokers supply you with their Terms of Business, outlining what fees are due and when?

lauraj91

When I started going to various estate agents they all offered me deals in their estate agencies for soft foot print agreement in principles, the other brokers gave me paperwork this one didn't.
Like I said I am very new to this and maybe I have madea rookie mistake I just wanted to know if it is jujustified. If the mistake is mine I will obviously pay the fee.

Malmo

My unqualified opinion is that their demand is unenforceable and I would simply tell them that you are not paying that fee. That broker should have issued you a Initial Disclosure Document (IDD) or Terms of Business prior to proceeding with anything - a full Fact Find would have been one of the first steps.

lauraj91

Thank you for your advice, I had the same thought myself surely he could not ask for a fee when those details were not disclosed to me before the AIP was set in motion. If it had been I would have chosen not to proceed with it.

amnblog

1.You should only be dealing with one broker.

2. No one should be charging you anything without explaining their terms first

3. Avoid brokers in estate agencies, ideally get a recommendation from a friend

4. You should only be obtaining an agreement in principle when you are ready to proceed to offer and a single suitable lender has been identified.