Estate Agent Demanding Fees After Sale Through Another Agent

eddddy

Sheppo88 said:

eddddy said:

Just to clarify - who sent you the text that you have quoted above? Was it The Property Ombudsman?

If so, is it the Ombudsman's decision following a complaint from you - and therefore binding on the estate agent?  (If it is, it's a very fast turn around.)

A solicitor. 

OK - sounds good.

So your solicitor has given you their opinion based on the info you provided to them

The estate agent might not agree with your solicitor's opinion. And/or the estate agent's legal team / solicitor might give the estate agent a different opinion. (Maybe because they disagree with your version of events / timeline, or your solicitor's interpretation of the contract, etc.)

So if you simply refuse to pay, the estate agent might still take you to court.

(And your solicitor refers to The Property Ombudsman's guidelines. A court isn't governed by the Property Ombudsman's guidelines. The court is likely to ignore those guidelines.)

So you should consider complaining to the Property Ombudsman about both estate agents, before the estate agent has a chance to start court proceedings against you.


You will generally get a better result by complaining to the Ombudsman, rather than waiting for the estate agent to take you to court.

GDB2222

eddddy said:

Sheppo88 said:

eddddy said:

Just to clarify - who sent you the text that you have quoted above? Was it The Property Ombudsman?

If so, is it the Ombudsman's decision following a complaint from you - and therefore binding on the estate agent?  (If it is, it's a very fast turn around.)

A solicitor. 

OK - sounds good.

So your solicitor has given you their opinion based on the info you provided to them

The estate agent might not agree with your solicitor's opinion. And/or the estate agent's legal team / solicitor might give the estate agent a different opinion. (Maybe because they disagree with your version of events / timeline, or your solicitor's interpretation of the contract, etc.)

So if you simply refuse to pay, the estate agent might still take you to court.

(And your solicitor refers to The Property Ombudsman's guidelines. A court isn't governed by the Property Ombudsman's guidelines. The court is likely to ignore those guidelines.)

So you should consider complaining to the Property Ombudsman about both estate agents, before the estate agent has a chance to start court proceedings against you.


You will generally get a better result by complaining to the Ombudsman, rather than waiting for the estate agent to take you to court.

The OP took it seriously enough to get legal advice, rather than relying on advice from a forum. 

It would be worth his while to issue a complaint to both agents, as he'll need to do this before going to the TPO. Also, I assume that under TPO rules the agents can't issue proceedings whilst the complaints process is ongoing.

 

eddddy

GDB2222 said:

 Also, I assume that under TPO rules the agents can't issue proceedings whilst the complaints process is ongoing.

 

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.

TPOS code of practice says this:

5w

Although nothing precludes you taking court action to pursue payment of your commission account, it is generally expected that you will not take court action when a complainant has referred the matter to the Ombudsman. 

Link: https://www.tpos.co.uk/images/codes-of-practice/TPOE27-8_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Estate_Agents_A4_FINAL.pdf

So not a 'rule' - just a 'general expectation'. (Rules generally have words like 'must'.)


But conversely, if the estate agent has started court action against the OP, TPOS will no longer get involved.

Which is why it's important for the OP to make the first move and complain to TPOS (after complaining to the agents).