Estate agent charging buyer for ID check

GDB2222

user1977 said:

Kim_13 said:

What's next, having to pay for the banks' Anti Money Laundering checks?

Or (as I think I have already suggested) buyers having to pay the EA for their time showing them around the property?

There's nothing new about that. In Germany, the buyer pays the estate agent's fee. (It's also much, much higher than in the UK.)  In many auctions, there's a fee charged to the buyer. 

RexItaliae

A few months ago I had an offer accepted. I was told by the agent I needed to pay £60 (£50+VAT) and go through an online procedure to check my ID. I did ask my solicitor if it was normal and she was a bit surprised, but then I noticed that it was actually written in the estate agent's website that these checks were required by law, they also stated that that was the price they would charge the buyer. So I paid and that was it.

TL,DR: yes it's normal, but not all estate agents ask for the buyer to pay for it. Unfortunately it's the seller who chooses the agency so if you want the house you have no choice but to comply with their prices. 

Kim_13

RexItaliae said:

A few months ago I had an offer accepted. I was told by the agent I needed to pay £60 (£50+VAT) and go through an online procedure to check my ID. I did ask my solicitor if it was normal and she was a bit surprised, but then I noticed that it was actually written in the estate agent's website that these checks were required by law, they also stated that that was the price they would charge the buyer. So I paid and that was it.

TL,DR: yes it's normal, but not all estate agents ask for the buyer to pay for it. Unfortunately it's the seller who chooses the agency so if you want the house you have no choice but to comply with their prices. 

When a property is in demand they know that someone will pay it if you don’t, so I would agree it’s pay for something that you morally shouldn’t or lose the property, but if it has been on the market for a while with little interest then the EA may budge. After all, they won’t get any commission if the property doesn’t sell, and it’s not worth losing a buyer for an outlay of far less than £60.

It’s in their terms, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the practice of charging the buyer one day deemed an unfair contract term.

Super007

An offer has been accepted on a house purchase and the estate agent wants me to pay for AML checks despite giving them copies of my original passport and utility bill documents before I could even start to negotiate an offer. Don't you think this is a legalised corruption for Estate Agents to charge large amount of fees for AML checks? Surely, by taking copies of the original documents at the estate agents office by them should be enough. As a buyer taking a mortgage the Estate agent is not handling any funds for which they need to do AML checks. Is there a success story whereby someone has not paid for AML checks to a estate agent.

GDB2222

Super007 said:

An offer has been accepted on a house purchase and the estate agent wants me to pay for AML checks despite giving them copies of my original passport and utility bill documents before I could even start to negotiate an offer. Don't you think this is a legalised corruption for Estate Agents to charge large amount of fees for AML checks? Surely, by taking copies of the original documents at the estate agents office by them should be enough. As a buyer taking a mortgage the Estate agent is not handling any funds for which they need to do AML checks. Is there a success story whereby someone has not paid for AML checks to a estate agent.

Estate agents do have to do AML checks, including checking the source of your funds. That's the law. 

So, the question is simply whether the buyer pays for this, or the seller does (as part of their fee to the estate agent).  There's also the question of whether the EA does this themselves, or farms it out to a specialist company. 

What happens if you simply refuse to pay? Well, the EA may pick up the tab. Or, they may regard this as a sort of test, and conclude that anyone who refuses to pay will cause endless problems further down the line, so best to tell you to get lost now.  

nokia1100

I had a case of EA and the £60 to Lifetime Legal scam, but they shot themselves in the foot by saying that house was "well presented" when the truth was anything but (stank of damp). So I never got to make an offer minus £60.
The EA I've dealt with for the house I'm buying just put my passport and driving licence on their photocopier one Saturday morning. My out of town solicitor has just had photos of the same by email, and an Armalytix report.