Estate Agent has ceased trading?

Weimy

Hi, I am literally 3 weeks away from moving into my new house. I received a call today from a different estate agent stating that the estate agent I had signed up with had ceased trading due to the two partners having a row and going their separate ways.

They have stated they are now working for us and sent an e-mail through to us asking us basically to sign a new contract with them stating they will be charging exactly the same as we originally agreed.

However, our contract stated with our original estate agents that on completion they would reimburse us for our solicitors fees for the selling bit of our sale this was around £865. This new agents wants to only pay us £350.

I am not going to sign this new contract as I am waiting to see what they come back with as I told them I want the full £865 paid back to me on completion.

As the sale of the house is now nearly complete just the solicitor's sorting out final details to exchange contracts. Do I actually have to sign this new agents contact as they haven't done anything for us, if not would I have to pay the £3,100 in fees.

Any advise with this would be much appreciated.

G_M

Weimy wrote: »

Hi, I am literally 3 weeks away from moving into my new house........

As the sale of the house is now nearly complete just the solicitor's sorting out final details to exchange contracts. .

!!!!!

You've not Exchanged so you cannot say you are 'literally 3 weeks away from...." You just do not know. FTB? Very common for FTBs to believe that dates they've discussed are all but set in stone. They are not.

Do I actually have to sign this new agents contact as they haven't done anything for us,

Of course not. No one can make you sign a contract you don't want to sign.

It may be that the existing contract binds you to whoever has taken over from the original EA, but that would be on the terms of that ongoing contract.

GDB2222

let's start at the beginning. Was the estate agent you signed up with a limited company? Has it been put into liquidation?

Definitely do not sign a new contract with some other agent.

peterhjohnson

G_M wrote: »

It may be that the existing contract binds you to whoever has taken over from the original EA, but that would be on the terms of that ongoing contract.

Any advise with this would be much appreciated

Yes, many (but not all) contracts say that the supplier can sell the contact on. This means that you still have to pay a replacement supplier but the supplier will have to honour the terms of the original contact.

It's odd that the new supplier is asking for a fresh contract.

davidmcn

Your original contract doesn't vanish in a puff of smoke just because the agents say they have "ceased trading". It's still enforceable, assuming that whatever sort of entity the EA is still exists. You refer to "partners" - is it a partnership, rather than a limited company?

eddddy

The only reason you would agree to sign a new contract is if:

• There is a benefit to you in signing a new contract i.e. The terms are better than the old contract, and...

• It's confirmed in writing by the original EAs that the old contract will be cancelled, when you sign the new contract.

Otherwise, there's no need to sign anything (and it's best not to sign anything).

MovingForwards

Have you even tried to contact the original estate agent?

AdrianC

MovingForwards wrote: »

Have you even tried to contact the original estate agent?

Quite.

This would be the first port of call when somebody else entirely, a competitor of theirs, says "Oh, yeh, they've closed down... We're taking on all their customers"

Remember - they know who was with the original EA from RM listings.

eddddy

To be on the safe side, it might be worth alerting your solicitor that something 'strange' is going on.

Because the EA normally sends their bill to your solicitor for payment out of completion funds.

So make sure your solicitor knows who you originally signed an EA contract with (maybe send them a copy of the original contract), and how much you have agreed to pay.

... and, realistically, don't sign a new contract with the new EA.

Bossypants

MovingForwards wrote: »

Have you even tried to contact the original estate agent?

I'd go to their offices/former offices in person asap. Companies like estate agents don't just 'cease trading' overnight, there will be a winding up phase of dealing with the staff, office leases, clients and so on. They would also be trying to shore up whatever income they could, especially sales with imminent completions. The fact that you apparently haven't had so much as a cursory mass email from the original EA to notify you of anything being amiss, let alone a phone call, is highly suspicious in my view. Don't even talk to this new EA until you have been to the offices of your old EA, or at least spoken to someone you know there.

Comms69

Bossypants wrote: »

I'd go to their offices/former offices in person asap. Companies like estate agents don't just 'cease trading' overnight, there will be a winding up phase of dealing with the staff, office leases, clients and so on. They would also be trying to shore up whatever income they could, especially sales with imminent completions. The fact that you apparently haven't had so much as a cursory mass email from the original EA to notify you of anything being amiss, let alone a phone call, is highly suspicious in my view. Don't even talk to this new EA until you have been to the offices of your old EA, or at least spoken to someone you know there.

Sorry, but anyone can cease trading - IE literally stop work, without the need to carry out the rest of the formalities.