Estate agent greedy for his commission - 92 year old mother

Susieee

Can anyone suggest what I do about the cooling off period? They say there is no cooling off contract as work has been done and this right was explained to my mother and she waived her right as she was 'keen' to have the marketing started as soon as possible.

G_M

If there is a medical diagnosis of dementia, then clearly the contract is invalid. You'd need GP to confirm.

Equally if there is a medical diagnosis, it is probobly too late now for her to grant you POA (she has to be of sound mind to grant POA.

However you can apply to be her Deputy. see:
https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy

AdrianC

Frankly, Susie, tomorrow is Saturday. IIWY, I'd be re-scheduling my weekend, and jumping in the car early doors tomorrow, and doing it in person.

(and, fwiw, my father's in his late '70s, suffering from early-stages Alzheimers, and living on his own 3.5hrs drive from me... so, yes, this is definitely preaching what I practice!)

xylophone

There seem to be more problems here than the house having been put on the market.

You mention your mother's mild dementia - however, if you

cannot seem to make her understand that her house is on the market

this would seem to indicate that the dementia may be more than mild?

Even were this the case, it might still be possible that she would be deemed capable of granting PoA and it would be as well to explore the possibility.

It is also worrying that she is forgetting to turn off the oven - it is then only a short step to leaving pans of hot liquid on the stove and letting them boil dry with consequent fire risk/ forgetting to use oven gloves when handling hot pans/leaving doors unlocked etc.

In one way, what has happened may be a blessing in disguise - is it in fact time for the house to be sold and for your mother to consider very sheltered housing?

Do you need to telephone her doctor to discuss your concerns?

In the meantime, you might need to tell the agent that your mother has become very confused about the matter and that you are going to consult her doctor so that under the circumstances, there is no possibility of prospective purchasers visiting the house?

G_M

Susieee wrote: »

Can anyone suggest what I do about the cooling off period? They say there is no cooling off contract as work has been done and this right was explained to my mother and she waived her right as she was 'keen' to have the marketing started as soon as possible.

You have not answered the question: Did she sign more, or less, than 14 days ago?

If you are still within the 14 days, ignore their claim that she waived her rights, and get a letter back to them, from her, saying she is cancelling within the 14 days.

And don't forget the tea and cakes: the ideal solution to this is to reach a reasonable and amicable solution, not a legalistic one unless you have to.

AdrianC

G_M wrote: »

If there is a medical diagnosis of dementia, then clearly the contract is invalid. You'd need GP to confirm.

Equally if there is a medical diagnosis, it is probobly too late now for her to grant you POA (she has to be of sound mind to grant POA.

Hold on one moment... A diagnosis does NOT automatically equal loss of capacity to form a valid contract.

In my father's case, the PoA paperwork was signed by the doctor at the memory clinic at the same time as we were given the diagnosis. I was sent out of the room while they had a chat to determine if he was capable of understanding the issues around PoA, and - when it was decided he was - then a sig was no problem whatsoever.

xylophone

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=154

will be worth a read - your mother may well be deemed to have capacity despite the dementia.

Susieee

I am sorry I cannot answer everybody right now but no, it has not been anywhere near 14 days and yes I agree, a trip to see her tomorrow is the best thing. I will let you all know what goes on.

Feel a little tired and need a lie down now.

Again, huge thanks to everybody for your kind contributions. I will read all the comments properly over the weekend.

AnotherJoe

Susieee wrote: »

Thank you for the advice.

I will write a letter and send it to my mums houses tomorrow and get the neighbours to explain to my mother what's going on and get her to sign it and then have it hand delivered - it will be faster that way and we have proof of delivery.
.

Since the best part of a million pounds is involved, why dont you take a day off work and go see your mum instead of lumbering her neighbours with this? Or even go tomorrow and get it all done?

After that you need to get a PoA or otherwise some power over her affairs, which will be very difficult and costly if your mum has been diagnosed with dementia already.

I dont think you've taken on board the consequences of this condition, you need to take some action to fix the underlying situation, such as moving her closer to you or into a home because whats to stop her trying to sell it again the day after you leave, or doing some other crazy things?

copperjar

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

What I'm wondering - ie re the cold-calling prior to the EA visit - is whether this particular EA is doing research on which houses have elderly people in.

It's not that hard to check out at least the general agegroup of someone on line.

Add that, even if they are cold-calling generally (ie rather than picking a specific agegroup to try this on) - as soon as your mother picked up the phone her voice probably told them she is elderly (as many peoples voices change as they get older).

either way - they figure they've picked a vulnerable agegroup. It may well be that your mother isnt the only one they've targetted like this - there may be other elderly people that have also been on the receiving end of this.

Personally - I'm wondering if it might be an idea to contact your local Age Concern office and see if they've had reports of this happening to other elderly people in the area. Strength in numbers after all....

Trading standards would definitely be interested in this and have powers to investigate if necessary. Number will be available through your mums local council