Taking Estate Agent to Court - my story and advice

bendeneo

Hello there,

I wanted to pass on some information on my impending court case in which I am taking an Estate Agent to court, it may help others but also if anyone has any advice that could help me please let me know.

I sold my flat in London last year via a company in Streatham called T2M or Time 2 Move.

There were various issues such as their way of lowering my asking price but the biggest issue was when they gave a copy of my keys (I had taken back the originals so they had made copies without my knowledge or prior agreement) to the buyer... inbetween exchange and completion..... again without my prior consent.

I arrived at the flat to pick up various possessions and organise how to extract some of the heavier items.... but when I arrived the flat was open and a builder was in place, gutting and renovating my flat!
He told me had been there a number of days already. I suspected it had been at least a week because looking around the flat I could see that the kitchen had been ripped out, the bathroom had been ripped out, all the flooring had been removed to bare concrete!!!

Added to this various possessions and items had been removed (technically theft I would have thought) and/or junked, such as Beds, Mirrors, Sofa's, Tables, Bedroom cabinets, Iron.... I think you get the picture.

I informed my solicitor who said he had no knowledge of any request to gain access, and was as shocked as I was!

I then went to T2M and complained, their attitude was at first to pretend they didnt know what I was talking about, then to say they thought I had given permission, deny making copies of the keys, and then get angry and confrontational with me! 'Dont see what your problem is, it wont be yours tomorrow it will be sold'.

The flat sold the following day (I had a sleepless night because if something had gone wrong i.e. they flooded the flat, broke a gas main, collapsed the building, then they could have scarpered and backed out of the deal leaving me with huge costs, possible liability and an unsaleable flat!)

I then sent an breakdown of my losses to T2M which was ignored, a second one advising I would be taking them to court and then used the small claim process on MoneyclaimOnline which costed £120.

Eventually I got a voicemail from the manager to say that he didnt see the problem or why i was upset, and that I should 'get my facts straight and save us both a waste of time'.

T2M missed the deadline to put in their defence, so I technically won. They then petitioned the court for more time stating that they didnt think they were liable and needed to get their defence in order!

I then had to pay a further £300 to keep the process going (you get it back when you win the case) down the small claims track, and will now be seeing them in court on April 16th.... approx 6 months after this all started.

Any advice from anyone?

I cant see they have a leg to stand on really, as I didnt give them permission to allow people into the flat for any reason, especially not extensive renovation.... so surely by admitting they gave access without having anything signed, and I have now suffered loss of goods, then surely they must be liable?

Cheers!

bryanb

Maybe a statement from the builder would be useful.Perhaps something from the key cutter nearest to the Estate agent. Did you save the voicemail? The buyer would be a good witness.

pinkshoes

That's shocking!! The only circumstances I've know the buyer to access the property inbetween exchange and completion was with newbuilds, to measure for furniture and carpets, and that was with the permission of the vendor, who let them in and stayed with them at all times!!

As bryanb suggested, perhaps you can get a statement from the builder? Did you take any photos that were dated showing what had been done? Did you manage to get any of your furniture back? Photos of it in the skip?

The EA are blatently to blame, as how else could they have got a copy of the keys?!?!

They've got 2 lousy reviews on here: http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews108102.html so you ought to add yours!

Good luck!

ps - weren't they the ones featured on that rogue estate agents program???

pinkshoes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4826444.stm

Is this them, under the catagory entitled "Lying" about half way down the article?

bendeneo

Thanks for your replies.

I did indeed take pictures of the flat and the damage/renovations as well as the builders van.
I also recorded the voicemail from the Estate Agent but will the court be interested in that?

I am sure the liability for my losses lies with the Estate Agent but others have told me the buyer is liable.... I cant see how, although they were the people that chucked my stuff away, they did so thinking it was with consent because the Estate Agent had given them the keys. I spoke to the Buyer and the builder was actually one of his employees.... so I think the whole thing is fishy.

Therefore I dont know if the buyer will want to be a witness....

My solicitor should also have advised me to keep the deposit/EA fees but didnt, so I am not sure what to do about him either.

Any advice on what to say in court?.....

Jorgan_2

Good luck with your case, I hope you win. The agent has been negligent, in my opinion. They have not acted in your best interrests, certainly between exchange & completion.

bendeneo

pinkshoes wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4826444.stm

Is this them, under the catagory entitled "Lying" about half way down the article?

Thats them!!!!!

Doozergirl

Just tell the truth and conduct yourself professionally and respectfully. I was a witness at a small claims hearing last week and the truth was just obvious. I know the person in the wrong was genuinely convinced he'd done nothing wrong, but the truth was plainly there by the time everyone had given their evidence. My SIL is a magistrate and when I mentioned it, she did say to me that the truth just outs itself - it's very plain to see. It's obvious that you didn't break into your own flat so I can't see what defence they have, I just wonder what the judge will decide they are liable for in monetary terms exactly.

I can see that the agent will be liable for handing out your keys without permission and without accompanying the buyer, but your buyer should be in hot water for taking illegal possession of the property, no? What did your solicitor say?

T2M have either agreed to give the keys without your permission and genuinely thought it was for a small issue or the buyer has actually asked them if they could get the keys early to do some work and T2M have, for some completely bizarre reason given their permission. Just be careful - do you have proof that they copied the keys? If you don't then it isn't something you shoudl accuse them of directly. It could quite easily have been the buyer if they were given the keys and allowed to go by themselves to the property.

It was T2M featured in the BBC program but their West Norwood branch, though the manager featured did move to the Streatham branch! We sort-of knew him through selling our first flat in Streatham and then actually looking at another property on his books at the time of the program!

pinkshoes

Were the buyers first time buyers who didn't know that they weren't allowed to do anything to the property until after completion?

(and if they weren't FTBs, then they should have known this, and perhaps are also liable for damages to your furniture!)

bendeneo

Doozergirl wrote: »

Just tell the truth and conduct yourself professionally and respectfully. I was a witness at a small claims hearing last week and the truth was just obvious. I know the person in the wrong was genuinely convinced he'd done nothing wrong, but the truth was plainly there by the time everyone had given their evidence. My SIL is a magistrate and when I mentioned it, she did say to me that the truth just outs itself - it's very plain to see. It's obvious that you didn't break into your own flat so I can't see what defence they have, I just wonder what the judge will decide they are liable for in monetary terms exactly.

I can see that the agent will be liable for handing out your keys without permission and without accompanying the buyer, but your buyer should be in hot water for taking illegal possession of the property, no? What did your solicitor say?

T2M have either agreed to give the keys without your permission and genuinely thought it was for a small issue or the buyer has actually asked them if they could get the keys early to do some work and T2M have, for some completely bizarre reason given their permission. Just be careful - do you have proof that they copied the keys? If you don't then it isn't something you shoudl accuse them of directly. It could quite easily have been the buyer if they were given the keys and allowed to go by themselves to the property.

It was T2M featured in the BBC program but their West Norwood branch, though the manager featured did move to the Streatham branch! We sort-of knew him through selling our first flat in Streatham and then actually looking at another property on his books at the time of the program!

Thats good to hear about your SIL, thanks.

All I can do is show the time-stamped pictures, give them a letter from my solicitor saying he had no knowledge of any agreement to give access, perhaps give them the VM recording and transcript and hope for the best.

As you say, it should be pretty obvious that I didnt do it all myself! Plus the EA has admitted that they gave keys (except they say they thought I had given permission). I would have thought that they would have needed it in writing.... just like I would have needed it in writing..... surely the court will take that into account!

vetfred

What a disgrace. Just make your case in court for each point and how it affected you financially or caused undue stress on your life.

Looking at what they've done, they'd have a cheek to turn up in April to defend that behaviour so list everything you can think of and back it up with as much evidence as possible. I would hope the court is firmly in your favour.

Maybe I'm wrong but having the building renovated before completion kinda sounds like it was bought by a developer they were in bed with or a friend?

If they are going to make out as their defence that you agreed to this being done then you've nothing to worry about because it's so ridiculous, no-one would believe that. And if they can't argue you agreed to it, what can they argue?! They're going to say "we were given a key and we gave that key not knowing the house was going to be renovated"... mmkay. The people buying must be liable too I assume because what right do they have to do that to someone else's property?

In this case, hope you get every penny you deserve from them or the buyer. Good luck.