Estate agent taking me to court

fezster

AdrianC wrote: »

The timeline is in perfect agreement. I made no mention of whether the OP had paid the £200 or not.

AdrianC wrote: »

OP agrees to market property through agent...

Where did the OP agree to have the agent market his property?

hazyjo

Did you allow the board to stay up? Was it changed to a 'sold' board, and did you leave that up?


You may find you shot yourself in the foot if so, or if so. Especially since you've offered to pay for the board which in itself would suggest you accept some level of contract. Did you put that in writing? Did it say 'without prejudice' or any wording in it to suggest that offer would be withdrawn if they declined it?

AdrianC

fezster wrote: »

Where did the OP agree to have the agent market his property?

My emphasis:

Irishjenn wrote: »

I contacted a local ae and asked the general questions How's the property situation in the area, is there much selling etc etc and we agreed on the phone that the agent would go and have a look at the property so I left the keys with the receptionist a few days later. The agent went and looked at the house and then phoned me amd said yeah it's a good house etc and suggested I put it on the market for x amount of £ amd if I wanted to use him I'd have to pay a deposit of £200 .The agent advised he had cash buyers abroad who are buying property and letting it out etc and he would have a chat with them. I told the agent OK but I have a guy I know off coming to look at it the following evening

SmashedAvacado

My view is this - even if the EA was able to argue a contract, it is unlikely that the terms of the contract would be the standard terms of the EA. The courts would probably imply their own terms and assess the remuneration on what was reasonable in the circumstances. Given that the EA did nothing to procure the sale and were not involved in any part of the selling process, its hard to see how they might recover anything more than a nominal fee.

Although i am not clear as to exactly what documentation passed between the OP and the EA.

fezster

AdrianC wrote: »

My emphasis:

Sorry, but you are selectively reading the OP. And then applying him saying OK to one sentence, which is not even in direct response to the sentence in question.

Reformatted OP to provide clarity:

Irishjenn wrote: »

The agent went and looked at the house and then phoned me amd said yeah it's a good house etc

and suggested I put it on the market for x amount of £

amd if I wanted to use him I'd have to pay a deposit of £200 .

The agent advised he had cash buyers abroad who are buying property and letting it out etc and he would have a chat with them.

I told the agent OK but I have a guy I know off coming to look at it the following evening

My reading of it is that he is acknowledging the agent saying he would have a chat with his potential cash buyers. We'll have to agree to disagree if you still believe this is the basis of a contract.

Comms69

fezster wrote: »

Sorry, but you are selectively reading the OP. And then applying him saying OK to one sentence, which is not even in direct response to the sentence in question.

Reformatted OP to provide clarity:



My reading of it is that he is acknowledging the agent saying he would have a chat with his potential cash buyers. We'll have to agree to disagree if you still believe this is the basis of a contract.

Clearly that is the basis of the contract, when the service provided is to find a buyer....

MEM62

todayisagreatday wrote: »

You say you dropped your keys in - this suggests you had instructed the agent? Why would you drop the keys in if you had no intentions of using the agent?

So that the agent could give an opinion / value on the house. Not at all unusual and something that most would offer without obligation.

alfred64 wrote: »

And why on earth didn't you wait one day until your prospective buyer had viewed the property before you contacted the estate agent?

Agreed this may have saved the OP all the trouble he is experiencing but there is no reason to only pursue on avenue of inquiry at a time when looking to sell a property.

realgonekid_2

Has the OP even done the AOS( acknowledgement of service) and asked for extra time to defend the claim.. that is what we should all be asking............

fezster

fezster wrote: »

My reading of it is that he is acknowledging the agent saying he would have a chat with his potential cash buyers. We'll have to agree to disagree if you still believe this is the basis of a contract.

Comms69 wrote: »

Clearly that is the basis of the contract, when the service provided is to find a buyer....

That may have some merit if the buyer the OP sold to was the buyer the agent referred to. However, even in that case, on what grounds would the agent claim his fee? Any terms of the contract (whether sole-marketing or sole-selling) are unenforceable if absent in this verbal exchange, and in the absence of any written documentation.

Comms69

fezster wrote: »

That may have some merit if the buyer the OP sold to was the buyer the agent referred to. However, even in that case, on what grounds would the agent claim his fee? Any terms of the contract (whether sole-marketing or sole-selling) are unenforceable if absent in this verbal exchange, and in the absence of any written documentation.

I agree, I'm sure I had posted this: That depends what if anything the agent claims was agreed, and what if any evidence he can provide.


But it seems to have disappeared.