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Estate agents mislead us

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  • tallsmithy
    tallsmithy Posts: 30 Forumite
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    OK, the whole point of my post was to discover if anyone else has successfully held a estate agent to account... Going by replies so far it appears not or no one gives a shi....
  • warby68
    warby68 Posts: 3,021 Forumite
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    Welcome to the world of house buying and selling.

    Chains appear and change all the time and one solicitor/agent/client blames the other, also all the time.

    It can be a bit of shock when you're a FTB with no prior experience. I'll eat my hat if you have anything actionable. Its more like the usual shifting sands of the house buying process in this country.

    Just enjoy your first home together and stop chasing compo :)
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
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    The legal position is that an estate agent does not have to verify what they are told by their clients.

    You might have a claim if you could prove that purplebricks knew the property was in a chain but advertised it as chain-free. But I doubt you can prove this.

    If the seller intentionally misled you, you might have a claim against the seller (though it is difficult to see what loss you might be able to claim for). But I'm not seeing a claim against purplebricks.
  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
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    "OK, the whole point of my post was to discover if anyone else has successfully held a estate agent to account... Going by replies so far it appears not or no one gives a shi...."

    ...but that wasn't what you asked in the OP.

    As has been said - the agent can't be held accountable for the seller misleading them, or changing their mind and not telling the agent.
  • seven-day-weekend
    seven-day-weekend Posts: 36,755 Forumite
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    Does it matter, seeing as you are about to exchange? What difference has it made to the sale?

    I have bought and sold several properties and been very lucky and never been in a chain, but had I have found out later, when I was about to exchange, that the other party had misrepresented the fact, it wouldn't matter one jot as long as it did not hold up the exchange/completion.
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    I'm not sure what the financial loss is here that requires you to be compensated?
  • eschaton
    eschaton Posts: 2,024 Forumite
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    tallsmithy wrote: »
    The EA has also flouted the law here and I'm within my rights to take action against them!


    Go for it. Remember to report back and let us know how you got on.
  • gettingtheresometime
    gettingtheresometime Posts: 6,911 Forumite
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    Could they have been chain free and then weren't ?


    Experience will teach you that some EAs are economical with the truth and when it comes to house buying you proceed at a pace that you're happy with, not someone else
  • Akahotpot
    Akahotpot Posts: 155 Forumite
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    I am buying a property managed by PB and they told the vendors I was chain free but what I told them was I was single with mortgage offer in place and didn't need to sell my house to raise the deposit...not the same thing
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    Akahotpot wrote: »
    I am buying a property managed by PB and they told the vendors I was chain free but what I told them was I was single with mortgage offer in place and didn't need to sell my house to raise the deposit...not the same thing

    I'm not sure I completely follow?

    Do you need to sell your current property in order to raise any of the funds needed to make the purchase?

    If yes, you're not chain free. If no then you are chain free.
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