Estate agent not fair - can I claim

Echli

Hello, I have been reading this forum for various questions but this is my first post.

So basically, last year in July, we made an offer on a house that was in a particular catchment area. This was accepted by the 'seller' after a bit of negotiation where we ended up just accepting the asking price. We then accepted an offer on our existing house and after all paperwork was completed throughout the chain, the sellers solicitors stopped responding and their estate agent also stopped taking our calls. After 4 weeks of trying to communicate with them, and six months in total, the buyer of my house pulled out so I was not in a position to complete on my purchase.

My solicitor charged me £1500 because this case involved a lot of work caused by sellers non responsiveness and the survey cost£750. So I was £2250 out of pocket for nothing and not to say that that I missed the school admission deadline and also had to sell my stock ISa to make it work.

Then out of the blue in late December last year, I got an e mail from the'sellers' estate agent that due to lack of communication with the seller, the deal is off.

Today, I found another property with that agent and called them; during the call, they recognised me and asked if I was still interested in that previous property that the'seller' is going to market again. I asked them what the problem was last time and they said that the'seller' always wanted a higher price.

After hanging up, I am feeling really irritated that if that was the case, that they always wanted a higher price, why the hell did they not tell me?? I have wasted over 2 grand and perhaps could have saved some of that had they told me.

Is there any way I could recover some of the cost from this agent because I feel that the agent knew all along that this was not going to happen, and that is why stopped taking my calls when the time came to complete. That's the month when my lawyer was continuing to bill me for chasing and their time and I also got the survey done. If the property is now advertised at a higher price, do I have a fair arguement that they are responsible for my cost after the moment they became aware of the expectation of the seller for a higher price because they have not informed me in time.

For that kind of money, I could have done so much else, just feel this is so unfair.

Kind regards,

davidmcn

Echli wrote: »

I feel that the agent knew all along that this was not going to happen

"Feeling" something isn't really good enough evidence, and in any event no I can't see that the agent is liable to you. Until exchange of contracts happens, either party is free to renegotiate or just flounce off.

foxy-stoat

Echli wrote: »

they always wanted a higher price, why the hell did they not tell me?

Is there any way I could recover some of the cost from this agent because I feel that the agent knew all along that this was not going to happen

Estate Agents lie sometimes...and no you cannot claim for the legal work your solicitor put in.

Joys of buying and selling houses in UK.

[Deleted User]

Echli wrote: »

Is there any way I could recover some of the cost from this agent

No. The estate agent acts on the instructions of the seller.

You would need to sue the vendor, but that would also be a waste of time.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

If the Estate Agent is signed up to the TPO (search here), yes you can raise a formal complaint about the way you were treated, citing specific obligations in the EA Code of Practice that they are supposed to adhere to. They have likely breached 1b, 1e and 2a. In you place, I definitely would.

Attach as much evidence as you can to support the complaint and make it clear that you will take it to the TPO if they don't resolve it to your satisfaction.

If they refuse to do anything, take it to the TPO. At the very least it will cost you nothing (except your time) and cost them a fee (plus effort, paperwork, etc). Who knows, it might even make them treat the next buyer more fairly.

To set the right expectations, it is unlikely that even the TPO will require them to compensate you fully for any additional expenses.

Good luck, don't let them get away scot-free, at least make them go through the effort and expense of the TPO.

m0bov

Why was your Sol running up a bill due to the other side not responding? I'd expect the opposite. I'd be checking what I've been charged for to make sure my sol kept the bill to a minimum.

Comms69

Echli wrote: »

Hello, I have been reading this forum for various questions but this is my first post.

So basically, last year in July, we made an offer on a house that was in a particular catchment area. This was accepted by the 'seller' after a bit of negotiation where we ended up just accepting the asking price. We then accepted an offer on our existing house and after all paperwork was completed throughout the chain, the sellers solicitors stopped responding and their estate agent also stopped taking our calls. After 4 weeks of trying to communicate with them, and six months in total, the buyer of my house pulled out so I was not in a position to complete on my purchase.

My solicitor charged me £1500 because this case involved a lot of work caused by sellers non responsiveness and the survey cost£750. So I was £2250 out of pocket for nothing and not to say that that I missed the school admission deadline and also had to sell my stock ISa to make it work.

Then out of the blue in late December last year, I got an e mail from the'sellers' estate agent that due to lack of communication with the seller, the deal is off.

Today, I found another property with that agent and called them; during the call, they recognised me and asked if I was still interested in that previous property that the'seller' is going to market again. I asked them what the problem was last time and they said that the'seller' always wanted a higher price.

After hanging up, I am feeling really irritated that if that was the case, that they always wanted a higher price, why the hell did they not tell me?? I have wasted over 2 grand and perhaps could have saved some of that had they told me.

Is there any way I could recover some of the cost from this agent - no because I feel that the agent knew all along that this was not going to happen, and that is why stopped taking my calls when the time came to complete. That's the month when my lawyer was continuing to bill me for chasing and their time and I also got the survey done. - so why didn't you instruct your solicitor to pause? If the property is now advertised at a higher price, do I have a fair arguement that they are responsible for my cost after the moment they became aware of the expectation of the seller for a higher price because they have not informed me in time. - no

For that kind of money, I could have done so much else, just feel this is so unfair.

Kind regards,

It's not fair, but life isn't either.

TBagpuss

m0bov wrote: »

Why was your Sol running up a bill due to the other side not responding? I'd expect the opposite. I'd be checking what I've been charged for to make sure my sol kept the bill to a minimum.

Presumably because they were spending additional time chasing the other side to try to get a response, and fielding calls / e-mails from Echli .

If solicitors are charging on a hourly rate then you pay for all correspondence, telephone calls etc, not just those that get a substantive response.

If they agreed a fixed fee, then if the transaction doesn't complete you will usually be charged for the work done, or the fixed fee - I seem to recall that my solicitors charge the lower out of the agreed fixed fee, or the actual costs of the work at their normal hourly rate. In some cases the fixed fee will be on the basis that it will increase in certain situations, such as if there are unforeseen complications

movilogo

I asked them what the problem was last time and they said that the'seller' always wanted a higher price.

Offer 10k over asking price. Then drag for 3 months with various excuses. Then ask for compensation for last time failed purchase. Threaten to pull out if they don't play ball.

Then pull out at the end anyway

steamy

One of the below. Don't be a sap.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

If the Estate Agent is signed up to the TPO (search here), yes you can raise a formal complaint about the way you were treated, citing specific obligations in the EA Code of Practice that they are supposed to adhere to. They have likely breached 1b, 1e and 2a. In you place, I definitely would.

Attach as much evidence as you can to support the complaint and make it clear that you will take it to the TPO if they don't resolve it to your satisfaction.

If they refuse to do anything, take it to the TPO. At the very least it will cost you nothing (except your time) and cost them a fee (plus effort, paperwork, etc). Who knows, it might even make them treat the next buyer more fairly.

To set the right expectations, it is unlikely that even the TPO will require them to compensate you fully for any additional expenses.

Good luck, don't let them get away scot-free, at least make them go through the effort and expense of the TPO.

movilogo wrote: »

Offer 10k over asking price. Then drag for 3 months with various excuses. Then ask for compensation for last time failed purchase. Threaten to pull out if they don't play ball.

Then pull out at the end anyway

diggingdude

You won't get anything from the Estate Agent as they weren't working for you.  Shame there isn't someone who could offer some Generally Marvellous advice round here