Express Estate Agency

Butterflymlou

Hi all.
After some assistance. We sold our house last year with Express Estate Agency. Their service was appalling and had myself and the buyer not liaised directly the sale would not have gone ahead. I have been advised that we should not have had to do this as it is the estate agents job to communicate between parties for a smooth sale.
Anyway, we did and we got sorted and so on completion we were advised by our solicitor not to pay funds to them (almost £3000) as they hadn't fulfilled their contract and done the job they are meant to. We sought advice from the Ombudsman about this who unfortunately has not come back too favourably.
We are to pay £2700 but cannot pull this money out straight away. Other personal matters have happened in the meantime which meant we have had to use some of the money we set aside.
The Ombudsman has given us 21 days to accept or decline their decision giving us until the end of March. However Express have written to us (letter only received today) stating we are to pay the full amount by tomorrow or they will start court proceedings.
I contacted them to try to arrange a repayment plan which I know I am legally allowed to do but they are giving me an unrealistic timescale of 6 months meaning we have to pay almost £400 per month. As I don't work and we don't have this it is just not doable. I want to avoid court proceedings as hey state that any court fees, solicitors fees and interest will be added to the amount we owe.
Anyone been in this position and got any advice on this?

WhenIam64

There are a number of issues here

1. Why did the solicitor say what they said. Will they defend a court case.
2. What did you actually sign when you hired them
3. The Ombudsman's decision is not likely to be binding but would be persuasive in the small claims court so you are 1-nil down at half-time.

Small Claim court is not as scary as it seems but you should enquire of your solicitor why he/she though there was a breach of contract by Express. If anyone knows if you have a counterclaim, it will be them.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

I suspect that Express' last letter isn't properly structured to stand up as a letter before claim but was intended to scare you into paying without a fight.

Contact your solicitor for advice on WhenIam64's questions above, and also gather together all written correspondence you've ever exchanged with Express, and with the purchaser, as it will help establish your side of the story.

Butterflymlou

Many thanks for your assistance I will do that.

Verityspinelli

Butterflymlou wrote: »

Hi all.
After some assistance. We sold our house last year with Express Estate Agency. Their service was appalling and had myself and the buyer not liaised directly the sale would not have gone ahead. I have been advised that we should not have had to do this as it is the estate agents job to communicate between parties for a smooth sale.
Anyway, we did and we got sorted and so on completion we were advised by our solicitor not to pay funds to them (almost £3000) as they hadn't fulfilled their contract and done the job they are meant to. We sought advice from the Ombudsman about this who unfortunately has not come back too favourably.
We are to pay £2700 but cannot pull this money out straight away. Other personal matters have happened in the meantime which meant we have had to use some of the money we set aside.
The Ombudsman has given us 21 days to accept or decline their decision giving us until the end of March. However Express have written to us (letter only received today) stating we are to pay the full amount by tomorrow or they will start court proceedings.
I contacted them to try to arrange a repayment plan which I know I am legally allowed to do but they are giving me an unrealistic timescale of 6 months meaning we have to pay almost £400 per month. As I don't work and we don't have this it is just not doable. I want to avoid court proceedings as hey state that any court fees, solicitors fees and interest will be added to the amount we owe.
Anyone been in this position and got any advice on this?

I can’t see how you are going to get out of paying fees to the estate agent, they would have found your buyer advertised your property etc, just because you and the other person got involved with the selling process doesn’t mean they were incompetent, house sales never go as fast as a vendor or buyer wants and most think they can do a better job. How is an estate agent supposed to proceed with a sale when vendors and buyers are involving themselves. Your solicitor was wrong to give you such advise he should have told you to let the estate agents do their job and if you could prove they cost you the sale of your house then you could take action against them.

Butterflymlou

I am not trying to get out of paying all fees. They didn't advertise as they had promised and I have been advised that it isn't normal practice for the buyer and seller to liaise directly.
We only 'got involved' as we were getting no response whatsoever when contacting the estate agent. Both myself and the buyer gave them ample time to respond on numerous occasions but got our calls screened and no response at all.
The Ombudsman has upheld our complaint about the poor service regards communication.

Verityspinelli

You had a buyer so they must have introduced your property to somebody, somehow? how did you and the other person liaise did the estate agent put you in touch?

Verityspinelli

If you have proof that they did not do anything to assist you in a fair and professional manner then you may have a chance, if there have been other complaints about their service even better but I fear the chances are you are going to end up paying highly for it.

Even if they did you a disservice they will say you interfered with the sales process by contacting the other party. Estate agents do not like to lose out on commission they will not admit liability lightly. I’m not saying you don’t want to pay the fees I’m saying I don’t think you’re going to get out of it.
If you manage it maybe you can share your experiences with others I’m sure there’s quite a few that have had nightmare encounters with estate agents and had to pay them for their service or lack of.

Xbigman

There is plenty of precedent in law to show that signing a sole contract with an estate agent gives them the right to a fee even if you sell through another agency or do it yourself. It's also usual for estate agency contracts to contain plenty of clauses about nothing being guaranteed.
Now if you had complained at the time the house was sold and the issue had been resolved at that time that would have been a way forward. Simply not paying was never an option. Do you have a mortgage? If you do then avoiding a CCJ at all costs is the most important thing. Borrow the money and pay them off. The alternative is a CCJ and not being able to remortgage when your current deal ends.
On the other hand, if you don't care about your credit rating you could fight on but you will probably lose. It's up to you.


Darren