Estate agent greedy for his commission - 92 year old mother

Susieee

*I have edited the title in the hope of receiving some legal advice or where to go to get some.

Sorry, this is my first post on here and it's not a happy one.

Last night an estate agent called around to my elderly mothers home. I do not want to name this agent or his company but they are very prominent agents around this part of the UK - I am not far from central London. It was a visit, I am told, following a phone call which was made to my mother. The agents have stated that my mother agreed to a 'property valuation' and wanted to sell her property as soon as possible. I have been told by neighbours that the agent spent around 3 hours at the property talking to my mother. My mother who is very elderly - she is 93 in November - has stated that he was there for more than an hour at least.

To cut a long story short the agent has signed my mother up to a contract to sell the property, which has been in the family for about 45 years.

When I called to complain this morning at 9am I was told that the person who visited was not in the office and they were sorry about any confusion but state that they have a signed contract and the property has been listed on Rightmove already. When I protested that she is elderly and they used pressure selling and that she has no wish or intention to move and that I handle all her financial matters my complaints seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. The agent didn't seem at all helpful saying his manager would be in later and asked whether I could email my concerns.

The neighbours have seen the contract and have said it is very long winded but it is apparently, signed by my mother. The fee is 2% which works out to more than £19K in fees. How are agents even charging this much and getting away with this kind of scam in the first place?

I have sent a strong email saying how they are preying on the elderly and my mother is vulnerable and asked why the agent was there for hours on end? Why was my mother even cold called and is that normal practice and is it even allowed? She lives alone, no children except me and she was widowed a few years back. She does have part time helpers and loves the independence and if she thinks that she's been scammed in anyway it will really knock her confidence. I really don't know what to do. I do not want to be dealing with these kinds of things at the age of 77.

It is a shame that agents are not regulated like, say solicitors. I also wonder what my old friends in the trade (I'm an ex journalist) would think of this shambles. I have a good mind to call them up and make a huge fuss about this.

I am very stressed so any advice from a wonderful looking forum would be very appreciated while I wait for these cretins to sort themselves out.

:mad:

Guest101

1: Agents are regulated
2: You aren't obligated to sell
3: you still have a 14 day cooling off period as it was signed at home - so use it.


(where 'you' read 'your mother', if you only handle her affairs in a non binding agreement)

elsien

Can your mother not just contact them to tell them she doesn't want to sell?
There is no obligation for them to deal with you unless you hold power of attorney for your mother or she gives permission in writing or on the phone for them to talk to you.
Plus she must have agreed to make the appointment when she first spoke to them on the phone - are you sure she's being open with you, and isn't considering the merits of downsizing?
Just being older doesn't automatically mean she's being exploited - she could be sharp as a tack and fully aware if what she's signed up to. At the age of 92 my grandmother was perfectly capable of deciding if she wanted to sell up or not.
So what is mum saying about the reasons that she signed up, other than that he was there for an hour, and did she understand it was to do with the sale of her house?

On the other hand, if she didn't understand and they have taken advantage, at some point you may need to have the conversation about not signing anything till she's had time to think about it and get other advice. And not arranging appointments unless someone she trusts is with her.

Surrey_EA

It seems particularly odd that an EA would just cold call your mother out of the blue and then visit the property to carry out a market appraisal. It is certainly not normal practice.

It is also highly unlikely that the property was listed on Rightmove by 9am this morning, if the EA only visited last night.

Sounds like there may be a little more information to come out yet.

Andypandyboy

Could they have initially got the wrong address and then your mother just went along with it?

HiToAll

maybe your mother is wanting to sell. Quick get in there before your inheritance is frittered away at the bingo.

Small_Yeti

The Estate Agent will be RICS registered and this behaviour will go against their code of conduct.

Phone up the Estate Agent, advise that you wish your mother's house removed from the market immediately. This can absolutely be done - even on Rightmove. Immediately after the phone call email a brief note of the conversation as you understood it (i.e. that the house will be removed from all avenues of sale immediately). Googe the agent, get as many email addresses of senior management as you can, copy every single one of them in.

Advise you will be calling RICS to lodge a formal complaint and will be consulting with a Solicitor this afternoon if they do not comply accordingly. Ask them to confirm their RICS number. Definitely complain to RICS.

Ultimately your Mum will be responsible if she signed the contract but if you can prove she was coerced into signature then the contract cannot be enforced and is not valid. Any kind of pressure, verbal or physical or even just tiring out is considered coercion.

Please do feel free to PM me if you need some advice. I'm not a Solicitor but I have studied contract law.

Good luck!

Advise you wish to speak with the managing director of the firm. If they will not give you his details feel free to PM me and I will get them for you and send them across.

Guest101

Small_Yeti wrote: »

The Estate Agent will be RICS registered and this behaviour will go against their code of conduct. - Will they? Why would an estate agent be a chartered surveyor and in what way does this behaviour go against their COC?

Phone up the Estate Agent, advise that you wish your mother's house removed from the market immediately. - I'm sorry, but you are not our client, we cannot discuss this with you. This can absolutely be done - even on Rightmove. Immediately after the phone call email a brief note of the conversation as you understood it (i.e. that the house will be removed from all avenues of sale immediately) - I'm sorry, but you are not our client, we cannot discuss this with you.. Googe the agent, get as many email addresses of senior management as you can, copy every single one of them in. - A sure fire way to get a visit from the police and issued a PIN.

Advise you will be calling RICS to lodge a formal complaint and will be consulting with a Solicitor this afternoon if they do not comply accordingly. - Oh no.... Ask them to confirm their RICS number. Definitely complain to RICS.

Ultimately your Mum will be responsible if she signed the contract but if you can prove she was coerced into signature then the contract cannot be enforced and is not valid. Any kind of pressure, verbal or physical or even just tiring out is considered coercion.

Please do feel free to PM me if you need some advice. I'm not a Solicitor but I have studied contract law.

Good luck!

Advise you wish to speak with the managing director of the firm. If they will not give you his details feel free to PM me and I will get them for you and send them across.

Yeti, please, you're trying to be helpful but doing it all wrong

enthusiasticsaver

What does your mum say? Maybe she wants to sell up and finds the house too large. 2% estate agents charges is high but not unheard of so not a scam.

katsclaws

So your mum's house is worth £950,000.

Small_Yeti

Guest 101 I appreciate that you think you're helping. I don't know what you do for a living or who you have dealings with. I do know what I do for a living and I do know who I have dealings with though. From the sounds of it you are an antagonistic keyboard warrior who thinks they know stuff but doesn't seem to have any credentials. Honestly this may be wrong but this is how you are coming across.

As I mentioned, ultimately her mother is responsible for any contract that she may or may not have signed, however, if coercion was used in the signing of that contract then the contract is not legally binding. The OPs Mum appears to possibly be vulnerable and to have been subjected to three hours of pressure to sign this contract. The OPs Mum has the right to delegate whomever she wants to speak on her behalf whatever you may believe. And I know this because I am delegated to deal with several people's legal proceedings on their behalf for very similar reasons.

Add something constructive or just keep quiet.