Unwanted for sale sign

antmadd

Just wondered if anyone on here had any useful pointers. Purple bricks put an unwanted 'for sale' sign outside our house a month ago (they were selling next door but one and apparently do this to increase their presence). I told them they had trespassed on private property. I also said they could keep their sign in place for as long as they wanted, but that I would charge them £30/day rental. I have e-mail confirmation that they put the sign there. I sent them a (signed for) letter each week to confirm what the rental charge had increased to. The sign was removed at approx £900 mark. I have already sent them the final invoice and intend to to send them notification over the weekend that, if they do not pay, I'll take them to the small claims court for the amount owed. Any advice would be gratefully received......

davidmcn

You're wasting your time.

Tyler119

I agree that you are likely wasting your time, well for that amount anyway. Even if an agent agreed to some sort of rental amount, the charge you have stated would likely be considered unreasonable.

I assume that you informed them of daily charges once the sign was already put in place? Furthermore they have not agreed to a contract with you and the lack of response from them cannot legally be seen as them accepting a contract.

Furthermore if you did not like the sign being there, you could have just removed it. The most you could have charged them for was perhaps the cost of having it removed...5 mins work total.

Nice try though.

lisa110rry

I believe that some councils have rules about putting signs on private homes, the exception being a for sale sign in front of a home which actually up for sale (or to let of course). There's been a test case locally to me I'm trying to find the outcome, if I do I'll post a link here.

I would be horrified to have something like that in my garden, the cheek!

Here is the initial report:

http://www.lep.co.uk/your-lancashire/estate-agent-under-investigation-1-7835151

Davesnave

davidmcn wrote: »

You're wasting your time.

And, with postage, money too.

Not very MSE.

AndyBSG

Do you have a copy of the contract that Purple Bricks signed to agree to the charge?

If not, then your £30 a day charge could be 1p a day or £1,000 a day because no legally binding agreement has been made

Browntoa

pull the offending item down


move on with life

bris

To form a contract they need to agree, did they agree? Of course not, they are all sitting in their office having a good laugh and taking bets on what the final bill will be before you realise your mistake and take down their sign.

MonsieurFrugal

I'd of binned it straight away and not wasted my time :money: lol

mrginge

I've spent 2 minutes of my time reading this and now have to waste more time responding.

I charge out at £500 an hour (minimum 1 hour). Were do I send my bill?

bod1467

It could be argued that, having received notification of the rental charge, their choice to not remove the sign could be seen as acceptance of contract by (non-)performance ... they left the sign in place after they were advised of a rental charge.

It's no different to someone, say, entering a private car park and parking up. Whether the person reads the signs or not, the act of parking means acceptance of contract. (Whether the contract terms are legally binding is a separate matter).

/devil's advocate

The OP could send a Letter Before Action for the claimed amount - this might prompt some response. Whether the OP would actually win any claim is debatable.