Sole Selling Agreement

danivtec

I understand that all agents have a sole selling agreement as apart of your contract for say 12 or 16 weeks where they are the only agent that can sell your property.

After this tie in period you can move agents.

I am currently considering switching agents, however my concern is that can the agent still charge a fee for a client they introduced after the 12 or 16 week tie in if it were to sell through another agent?

Richard_Webster

Make sure you have the terminology right. Sole selling agreements are rare. they mean that even if you sell privately to a friend the agent can claim his commission.

More common are Sole Agency agreements. These generally now say that if the agent introduced the buyer or had negotiations with the buyer he is entitled to his commission.

Problem comes if agent 1 introduces buyer by showing him round or even just by sending him particulars and then later buyer sees property advertised by Agent 2 and has negotiations with Agent 2. Agent 1 will claim he introduced and Agent 2 had negotiations so they both claim commission.

Bets thing to do is get a list from Agent 1 of people he considers he has introduced and give that list to Agent 2 and make sure his agremment is amended to specifically exclude his entitlement to commission for sales to any people on that list. If any of them come in then Agent 2 should send them back to Agent 1.

danivtec

Even if the person was introduced after the end of the tie in period, Agent 1 can still claim a fee?

alanobrien

If the Agent introduces a potential buyer during their sole agency agreement period and that buyer purchases the property after the sole agency agreement has ceased they are still entitled to their commission.
The only question is how long the agreement is valid for in reality. i.e. If someone they introduced bought your property 6 months or a year after the sole agency agreement ceased would they still have a valid claim ? I have no idea but i wouldnt want to argue it in court.

LandyAndy

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Make sure you have the terminology right. Sole selling agreements are rare. they mean that even if you sell privately to a friend the agent can claim his commission.

More common are Sole Agency agreements. These generally now say that if the agent introduced the buyer or had negotiations with the buyer he is entitled to his commission.

Problem comes if agent 1 introduces buyer by showing him round or even just by sending him particulars and then later buyer sees property advertised by Agent 2 and has negotiations with Agent 2. Agent 1 will claim he introduced and Agent 2 had negotiations so they both claim commission.

Bets thing to do is get a list from Agent 1 of people he considers he has introduced and give that list to Agent 2 and make sure his agremment is amended to specifically exclude his entitlement to commission for sales to any people on that list. If any of them come in then Agent 2 should send them back to Agent 1.

As recommended (by me:D ) in your previous thread on the same topic.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=731705

danivtec

LandyAndy wrote: »

As recommended (by me:D ) in your previous thread on the same topic.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=731705

Is the 6 months as suggested written in law anywhere? and do agents follow up on properties that have left their hands?

LandyAndy

danivtec wrote: »

Is the 6 months as suggested written in law anywhere? and do agents follow up on properties that have left their hands?[/quote]


You bet, they do.

There have been threads on here recently regarding this very topic.

Mutton_Geoff

do agents follow up on properties that have left their hands?

Countrywide PLC have a specific department that checks land registry transactions against their database of UK agents to look out for this.

My own experiences discussed in this thread.

danivtec

My agreement states

"Fees will only be charged if a purchaser is introduced directly or indirectly by us, or by any other agent during the period of our sole agency, and that purchaser enters into a binding contract to purchase the property"

Furthermore

"We will be sole agents for a period of 16 weeks from the date of this agreement......the sole agency will continue thereafter unless terminated by either party giving 14 days notice"

I therefore would ask, if someone was introduced to my property after 16 weeks and i now changed my agent and this person brought my property with a new agent, would the first agent be in their right to claim a fee?(Contract was signed in June 2007)

Mutton_Geoff

Fees will only be charged if a purchaser is introduced directly or indirectly by us

I was taken to court by Countrywide PLC (for refusing to pay 1st agents fee when second agent sold house). They were able to convince the judge that their interpretation of that clause included anyone having ever seen a board outside the house or glanced at the particulars in their shop window!

I have recently sold another place and I had the first agent draft a list of people they considered they had introduced. Despite them only having about 4-5 viewings, their list was over 60 people long. They were kind enough to provide it and I handed it to the second appointed agents to avoid problems.

In my previous sale, Countrywide PLC refused to provide such a list then pulled "their" buyer out of the hat after I had completed the sale.

danivtec

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

Fees will only be charged if a purchaser is introduced directly or indirectly by us

I was taken to court by Countrywide PLC (for refusing to pay 1st agents fee when second agent sold house). They were able to convince the judge that their interpretation of that clause included anyone having ever seen a board outside the house or glanced at the particulars in their shop window!

I have recently sold another place and I had the first agent draft a list of people they considered they had introduced. Despite them only having about 4-5 viewings, their list was over 60 people long. They were kind enough to provide it and I handed it to the second appointed agents to avoid problems.

In my previous sale, Countrywide PLC refused to provide such a list then pulled "their" buyer out of the hat after I had completed the sale.

I can't believe some agents would stoop so low to get a fee that may very well be not entitled to.