I believe I have evidence of an estate agent creating fake bids

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Lonely-Willow.

I have to say I am surprised by the majority of comments on here. Only teachfast seems to feel that - if what you suspect is true - it is highly improper.

I also have to say, tho', that virtually every suspicion you listed in your first post barely warrants a second thought; please try and dismiss them. The one and only thing that does legitimately raise suspicion is IF the other bidder's name was the actual name of the property owner. Sadly, you have difficulty recalling if it was similar or the exact same, and that makes taking action very difficult.

If it were absolutely certain it was the same name, then I would personally pursue this. If I wasn't sure, I'd probably let it lie. It is very easy to see a name that makes a connection, perhaps because the other name was already in your head, and you wonder if it was the same - it just 'rings a bell'. A Sue or a Sarah or a Sadie jumps out as "I've seen that name before" just because you had a Sophie on your mind.

If the EA was in cahoots with the vendor, would this be illegal? I haven't a clue - but it certainly should be.

Don't know what to suggest, L-W; this has to be your call. You either - if you are 95% certain the names were the same, contact the EA ombudsman and ask their advice, or - if less than that - let it go.

Don't worry about the legal issue of having been shown the bidders' names - that's entirely on the EA's head; all you did was 'ask'.

NameUnavailable

You can't make allegations that could potentially ruin someone's business and put people out of work if they are wrong!

If you have a complaint the first step is always to take it up with the other party and only if you can't resolve it then there are other channels to take.

I'm not sure what outcome you would expect in any case, if you were right. Your contract of sale is with the vendor of the property. Are you expecting them to give you a refund of £20K as you think you overpaid by that?

You would need your proof of fraud and you would then need to take legal action against the vendor, which is going to be extremely costly and time consuming (not to mention the serious consequences if you lost!).

Give it up and move on with your life!

Lonely_willow

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Hi Lonely-Willow.

I have to say I am surprised by the majority of comments on here. Only teachfast seems to feel that - if what you suspect is true - it is highly improper.

I also have to say, tho', that virtually every suspicion you listed in your first post barely warrants a second thought; please try and dismiss them. The one and only thing that does legitimately raise suspicion is IF the other bidder's name was the actual name of the property owner. Sadly, you have difficulty recalling if it was similar or the exact same, and that makes taking action very difficult.

If it were absolutely certain it was the same name, then I would personally pursue this. If I wasn't sure, I'd probably let it lie. It is very easy to see a name that makes a connection, perhaps because the other name was already in your head, and you wonder if it was the same - it just 'rings a bell'. A Sue or a Sarah or a Sadie jumps out as "I've seen that name before" just because you had a Sophie on your mind.

If the EA was in cahoots with the vendor, would this be illegal? I haven't a clue - but it certainly should be.

Don't know what to suggest, L-W; this has to be your call. You either - if you are 95% certain the names were the same, contact the EA ombudsman and ask their advice, or - if less than that - let it go.

Don't worry about the legal issue of having been shown the bidders' names - that's entirely on the EA's head; all you did was 'ask'.

Well the vendor was a landlord and the house I bought was rented out for many years with the estate agent. There is a good chance the vendor and agent had a working relationship and it could raise the likely hood of them working together to create the fake bids. Having the name matching from the estate agents point of view would not have mattered as I was never going to see the names anyway. It just so happens I reared my head 2 years later and pressured him into showing me the book and never raised my suspicions about the fake bidder.

Sadly I would put my suspicions of the names matching at 80%. I also do not view the ombudsman favourably they are hardly fully impartial as the estate agents pay for their upkeep.

RelievedSheff

Lonely_willow said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Hi Lonely-Willow.

I have to say I am surprised by the majority of comments on here. Only teachfast seems to feel that - if what you suspect is true - it is highly improper.

I also have to say, tho', that virtually every suspicion you listed in your first post barely warrants a second thought; please try and dismiss them. The one and only thing that does legitimately raise suspicion is IF the other bidder's name was the actual name of the property owner. Sadly, you have difficulty recalling if it was similar or the exact same, and that makes taking action very difficult.

If it were absolutely certain it was the same name, then I would personally pursue this. If I wasn't sure, I'd probably let it lie. It is very easy to see a name that makes a connection, perhaps because the other name was already in your head, and you wonder if it was the same - it just 'rings a bell'. A Sue or a Sarah or a Sadie jumps out as "I've seen that name before" just because you had a Sophie on your mind.

If the EA was in cahoots with the vendor, would this be illegal? I haven't a clue - but it certainly should be.

Don't know what to suggest, L-W; this has to be your call. You either - if you are 95% certain the names were the same, contact the EA ombudsman and ask their advice, or - if less than that - let it go.

Don't worry about the legal issue of having been shown the bidders' names - that's entirely on the EA's head; all you did was 'ask'.

Well the vendor was a landlord and the house I bought was rented out for many years with the estate agent. There is a good chance the vendor and agent had a working relationship and it could raise the likely hood of them working together to create the fake bids. Having the name matching from the estate agents point of view would not have mattered as I was never going to see the names anyway. It just so happens I reared my head 2 years later and pressured him into showing me the book.

Sadly I would put my suspicions of the names matching at 80%. I also do not view the ombudsman favourably there are hardly fully impartial as the estate agents pay for their upkeep.

I'm not quite sure what you are expecting to gain here. Are you?

Personally I would just stop worrying about what other people have paid for their houses and enjoy your home. 

Lonely_willow

RelievedSheff said:

I'm not quite sure what you are expecting to gain here. Are you?

Personally I would just stop worrying about what other people have paid for their houses and enjoy your home. 

Well I want the estate agent struck off. That is what I want to gain.

RelievedSheff

Lonely_willow said:

RelievedSheff said:

I'm not quite sure what you are expecting to gain here. Are you?

Personally I would just stop worrying about what other people have paid for their houses and enjoy your home. 

Well I want the estate agent struck off. That is what I want to gain.

Struck off for what exactly?

You can't even be sure or provide any evidence that they have done anything wrong.

This could just be another one of your mistakes.

Why has it taken you two years to decide you would like them struck off?

AdrianC

Lonely_willow said:
There is a good chance the vendor and agent had a working relationship...

OF COURSE they did. The vendor hired the EA to sell the house. They were quite literally paying them to achieve the best price possible, because EA fees are a %age of the sale price...

Your £32k extra paid the EA several hundred quid extra.

That's kinda how the whole thing works.

Lonely_willow said:

Well I want the estate agent struck off.

Struck off what?

Lonely_willow

RelievedSheff said:

Lonely_willow said:

RelievedSheff said:

I'm not quite sure what you are expecting to gain here. Are you?

Personally I would just stop worrying about what other people have paid for their houses and enjoy your home. 

Well I want the estate agent struck off. That is what I want to gain.

Struck off for what exactly?

You can't even be sure or provide any evidence that they have done anything wrong.

This could just be another one of your mistakes.

Why has it taken you two years to decide you would like them struck off?

It is only recently that I got to see the bidding book. I have had no potential evidence before. Now I have the potential of the bidder who I bid against matching the name of the vendor. Though my recognition of the names is not 100% sadly.

NameUnavailable

The case m'lud is falling apart before our very eyes!!! Dismissed!!

Lonely_willow

AdrianC said:

Struck off what?

Let me put something hypothetical to you. If it is found the other bidders name and ID documents matched the Vendor would this be a police matter due to fraudulent activity on part of the estate agent?