SORRY MEANT TO POST AS A NEW THREAD.

Hi all

Here is post i posted over one year ago and a post on PAINSMITH'S SOLICITOR's blog. To my mind this is the first court decision made under these regulations. "ESTATE AGENTS BE WARNED CANCELLATION NOTICE REQUIRED"

"Yes it is a contract law matter. For this contract to be legally enforceable you must have been given a NOTICE OF RIGHT TO CANCEL IN THE PRESCRIBED FORM contained in the written contract.

Failure to provide this mandatory written notice render's the contract unenforceable in law.

The relavent legistration is The Cancellation Of Contracts Made In A Consummers Home Or PLace Of Work Ect, Regulations 2008 SI 2008 NO.1861

I am of course replying to your post on the understanding that you were not given a cancellation notice--------- I have yet to see an Estate Agents marketing contract that complied with the law."

20 March, 2011 • 23:40 0

Cancellation Notice

In a recent case in Watford county court an agent sought his commission for the successful sale of a property in October 2009.

The Defendant defended the claim on the basis that no Cancellation

Notice in the prescribed form pursuant to the Cancellation of Contracts in a Consumer’s home or Place of Work etc Regulations 2008 had been served.

In response to this defence the agent was relying on schedule 3 of the Regulations which excludes certain contracts from the Regulations. One such contract is for the sale or rental of immovable property.

However, the court held that the contract entered into by the parties was not a contract for the sale or rental of immovable property but one of marketing and as such schedule 3 did not apply.

The court also held that this was a commission contract and therefore caught by the Regulations. Therefore where no Cancellation Notice had been provided then pursuant to clause 7(6) the contract is unenforceable.

The agent’s case was dismissed.

Thank you to Mr Kennedy who brought this case to our attention.

LAWDOCTOR.

Where can I find information on the case in watford county court, who was the claimant?

Hello. I have been searching the internet for days to try and find a case result such as this one. Would this apply to the dreaded 'Business Transfer Agents' ? Thank you

Hello. I have been searching the internet for days to try and find a case result such as this one. Would this apply to the dreaded 'Business Transfer Agents' ? Thank you

Hello and welcome to CAG.

Would you be able to elaborate on your question please?

My best, HB

Hello Honey bee.

We signed a contract with a 'Business transfer agent' a few years ago.

It was to sell a Guest House.

We paid £600 upfront.

No success so we terminated the contract with them.

Shortly after the contract had terminated, we were able to sell it ourselves.

Out of the blue, nearly 18 months we have received an invoice for £6k from the business transfer agent

as they say they were still contracted to be 'sole agents' as the sale of the property went through so soon after the contract terminated.

Regardless of this, Watford County Court appear to have set a precedence with the above ruling.

The internet is littered with complaints about these types of businesses sending out invoices once the property is sold

or demanding the 'withdrawal fee' of anything from £600 upwards.

We at least had the £995+VAT excluded from our contract.

Even though these types of businesses do not seem to do a great deal

but still send out the invoices even when they did not sell the property.

We were told there would be no cooling off period as it was a 'business to business' transaction which was signed in our own home.

Interpret what the above ruling says it could be applied to 'business to business' ?

Thank you for your time.

Hello again, thank for the extra info. I'll flag up your thread for the site team.

HB

Hi Mark

Watford County Court can't set a Precedent, only a higher court can.

A Brief Guide for ICO Staff - Information Commissioner's Offi

What did your contract say about cancelling and if there was any bleed off period where, after cancelling, the agent would still be entitled to commission. Or was there no cancellation clause at all ?

If you signed it at home (away from the agents business premise) then Cancellation rights apply.. dont they ?

There seems to be quite a bit of information on google regarding the right to cancel.

http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/clock-counts-new-cooling-regulations/

Just thinking out loud. If you sold it yourself, doesn't that make him still the 'sole agent' as you aren't an agent but the owner.

Hello again Everyone. Thank you for your feedback. To try and answer everyone in one go -

"Just thinking out loud. If you sold it yourself, doesn't that make him still the 'sole agent' as you aren't an agent but the owner."

The contract says 'sole selling rights' (including ourselves not trying to sell it).

"If you signed it at home (away from the agents business premise) then Cancellation rights apply.. dont they ?"

It is a grey area depending on how you read the law.

"What did your contract say about cancelling and if there was any bleed off period where, after cancelling, the agent would still be entitled to commission. Or was there no cancellation clause at all ? "

We cancelled the contract with them as per the agreement. Can't say anymore than that.

"Watford county court can't set a precedence"

Thank you for clarifying. Will keep searching and hope the thought of the bad publicity it will generate for the BTA will be enough for them to eventually back down. We do have a solicitor working on our behalf.

Hi MarkLewis1972

If your case is the same or very similar, there is nothing to stop you using the same arguments and law as the individual in that case won. But you couldn't use that as a 'precedent' in your case. Best thing might be to get a copy of the Judgement and take a closer look.

'"Watford county court can't set a precedence"

Thank you for clarifying. Will keep searching and hope the thought of the bad publicity it will generate for the BTA will be enough for them to eventually back down. We do have a solicitor working on our behalf.'

"If your case is the same or very similar, there is nothing to stop you using the same arguments and law as the individual in that case won. But you couldn't use that as a 'precedent' in your case. Best thing might be to get a copy of the Judgement and take a closer look."

Thank you. Do you know how I can get hold of the details of this judgement? Thanks in advance.

You could contact Watford County Court, you only have the year to go by, so won't be easy.

"If your case is the same or very similar, there is nothing to stop you using the same arguments and law as the individual in that case won. But you couldn't use that as a 'precedent' in your case. Best thing might be to get a copy of the Judgement and take a closer look."

 

 

Thank you. Do you know how I can get hold of the details of this judgement? Thanks in advance.