Estate Agent claiming Fees for a sale they didn’t complete

lincroft1710

Two things spring to mind,

Firstly if the agent is trying to pull a fast one, offer to refer the matter to the local newspaper.

Secondly, if you are on good terms with your buyer, ask if they would confirm in writing that they were not introduced by the first agent.

newsgroupmonkey_

If this goes nowhere or gets thrown out, I'd go as far as letting everyone know on the local Facebook group, NextDoor and so on the kind of practices this Estate Agent gets up to. It'll end up costing them more than just a single sale!

Where I used to live, there is a fairly large Estate Agent who is a bully - both as a letting agent and an EA. They're slowly getting found out and their Ts and Cs are absolutely awful. Unfortunately, they have high-pressure sales pitches and they do a lot of advertising and sponsorship locally, so people who aren't from the area have no idea.

Basically, they have all the best houses both for sale and for rent and they're absolutely horrible to buyers and tenants who have no choice but to go to them.

AlmightyCorgi

Thank you all, I didn’t know I was supposed to get a list of viewers from the original agent, hadn’t sold a house before, but the people that did buy it had never come with the original agents. I’ve spoken to to the agents I did sell through and they are happy to provide confirmation that they introduced the buyers and get that confirmation from the buyers as well. I’ve written a letter of complaint to the original agent, asking them to evidence the claim etc so I’ll have to wait and see what they do, but it will be on the local Facebook etc pages once it’s sorted! 

steampowered

This is surprisingly common. A lot of the agents pay these debt collection firms to trawl through the agent's old book of properties, have a look at the land registry to see if those properties sold, and have a go at claiming the fee if they can.

You need to write back explaining that no fee was due under the T&Cs you signed.

AlmightyCorgi

Just wanted to thank everyone on the thread, after I followed the advice on here, the estate agent confirmed they had made a ‘mistake’ and they didn’t introduce the buyers and the legal company have confirmed they have shut the case! I have it all in writing so hopefully that’s it!

ss2020jd

That is great news. Well done. I’m so glad they discovered their ‘mistake’ and the legal company have been called off. It’s awful if they were just trying it on as @steampoweredmentioned sometimes happens but glad you don’t have to worry about it any more. Thanks for the update. 

Mutton_Geoff

Good news, the original agents aren't part of Countrywide PLC are they? They have form in this respect and have a whole department in Birmingham that compare land registry records with their agents databases on the offchance they can snag someone.

Rambosmum

Thanks for the update - I hate it when there's no resolution to a thread. 
Really pleased you got it sorted. 

Robbo66

Have a look at Foxtons Ltd v Bicknell & Anr and Woods Vs Palmer Snell in both cases it was ruled that the agent must prove it was the effective cause of the transaction - not merely an introduction.

Jonbvn

AlmightyCorgi said:

Just wanted to thank everyone on the thread, after I followed the advice on here, the estate agent confirmed they had made a ‘mistake’ and they didn’t introduce the buyers and the legal company have confirmed they have shut the case! I have it all in writing so hopefully that’s it!

Amazing how they always seem to make mistakes that are to their benefit and not ours.