Sequence,Brown&Merry,Conn ells Group - bad lot!

[iconoclash]

Hi - this is the nearest topic I can find to post in.

 

I believe Ive been duped into a contract with these guys under false pretenses

- having said that it would not hurt "to test the water" and pu tthe house on the market to see what gives

and that it wouldnt cost me anything

 

 

it now seems that the agent is trying to get nearly £500 from me within 14 days and if I dont pay up

- despite their never having sent one person round -

they will charge me 3% on top of Barclays Banks base rate on the bill??!!

 

 

I believe they breached any contract we may have had right from the start

and I certainly do not intend to give them all this money for doing very very little indeed

and going directly against what they said while sitting in myhouse!

 

 

Am I right in saying that this all comes under Contract Law. Thanks.

[lawdoctor]

One of my pet subjects I HATE ESTATE AGENTS!!!! Now thats off my chest lets move on.

 

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 un enforceable 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

 

Although this is untested in the County Court's, the Office Of Fair Trading surport this veiw (I have a test case pending).

 

So my humble advice is, point out these matters to your "ever so bright Estate Agent" and tell them to sue you!! Oh by the way failing to provide a cancellation notice is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE PUNISHABLE by a fine of up TO £5000 YES £5000 pounds!!! Tell them if they do not confirm the cancellation of there account in writing you will report the matter to the prossucuting body(TS) that should do the trick!!

 

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.

 

Let us know how you get along

Edited January 25, 2010 by lawdoctor

[iconoclash]

Hi - thanks - I'll dig out all the papers but had nothing apart from the contract as far as I recall - there are many pages of small print to get through! - didnt have a copy for ages and had to ask for it so the seven days to cancell period has past

[Steve__M]

Reading between the lines:

 

- An estate agent cannot market a property without a Home Inspection Pack (HIP).

 

- Typically, an estate agent will charge £500 to arrange for a HIP (even though they only cost £150 if you go direct to a HIP provider - but that is another story).

 

Did they arrange for a HIP to be prepared?

 

Long and the short - you cannot now "test the market" (ie. get dupes to come round without having any real intention to sell) without at least some outlay of money.

 

That said, it is entirely true that estate agents lie through their teeth in order to get business - so read up on what lawdoctor says.

[lawdoctor]

Hi again campri 2

 

Along with the above,your Estate Agent must be a member of an ombudsman scheme in accordance with the Estate Agents(Redress Scheme) Order 2008 SI 1712

 

This law came into force on the 1st October 2008 pursuaunt to schedule 3 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 Tell them to refer any compliant to the scheme's ombudsman who will decide the isssue free of charge.

 

Again it is a criminal offence not to be registerd.( although in fairness 90% are) The ombudsman would not give judgement for the agent unless they had given you the cancellation notice (detailed above).

 

Oh by the way (again) the ombudsman can and proberly would award you

compensation for the breach only a few hundered .POOR OLD ESTATE AGENT!!!!!

Edited January 25, 2010 by lawdoctor
ERROR

[lawdoctor]

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 un enforceable 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.

[iconoclash]

Hi - thats very interesting

-wonder what other contracts this then applies to?

 

 

meantime - dont know if I still have the papers but it all went very quiet re my estate agents demands for monies

- then ages later I had a demanding letter from a DCA.

 

 

I ignored that until such time they tried to take legal action

 

 

at which point I would have given them the info on the breach of contract of their client first.

 

 

The only thing that now bothers me is getting any crap info taken off my credit file if necessary as,

 

 

I think I'm right in saying, the reference agencies wont take any info from me directly as evidence.

 

thanks.

lyn

[iconoclash]

Estate Agents do not get a bad press for nothing.

 

Had dealings with Brown & Merry, one of the many and various companies all under Connells Group and apparently part of, or owned by, the Skipton Building Society.

 

....................... et al are in fact Connells, or is it Seqeunce Homes,

..hard to tell the way they have all these 'entitites' that includes sub prime lenders like Amber.

 

Having been stupid to believe their salesmen when they said, yes yes, try it, put it on the market, it wont cost you anything,..

 

.. and here we are years later having been stung for hundreds of pounds now for their useless service and total incompetence I am livid.

issues about HIPs and what they did and didn't do

 

- I being the vulnerable party in all this have to pay them

- it is disgraceful, outrageous and downright dishonest:-x:-x

Edited August 24, 2012 by dx100uk
names moved

[iconoclash]

I have been done for over £600 by Sequence UK,

 

 

who operate lots of different estate agents in your high streets like Brown & Merry, Wm. H. Brown, Barnard Marcus etc.

 

 

They are all part of Connells Group.

 

 

I was told I would not have to pay a HIP and signed a 12 week contract to have my property sold. It was a totally useless and appalling service but it did run the twelve weeks. I wrote to them saying I didn't want them to roll it over into another 12 weeks or whatever they might try to do and they have now taken me to court for the HIP cost plus extra's and said that I withdrew from the contract so they had a right to be paid for their useless inaccurate HIP, which was never completed at the time anyway. I believe they have backdated all these papers of theirs way after the fact, it is nearly 3 years since all this crap and now they have won a judgement for the money. I am so very very cross about this. I don't see why they should have been given this. Anything I can do?

[iconoclash]

ALSO - despite the issues around what went wrong with this case, please be aware that the Administration Charges written into Sequence UK Ltd contracts were found to be unlawful and a Penalty.

[havinastella]

Did you defend?

 

If these are a penalty, do what they have done and Issue against them!

[iconoclash]

Did you defend?

 

If these are a penalty, do what they have done and Issue against them!

Hi - I did defend but had a hard time with the DJ. Sequence UK Ltd contracts basically require you to pay them in all scenarios, even for cancelling within their cooling off period! I am confident that there terms would be judged an Unfair and there is certainly no transparency. The staff do not stand in front of you telling you that the moment you sign you will be liable for cost, even if you cancel later the same day. You cannot see a HIP without paying and then if it is **** they will still want paying. It is an appalling situation and must be challenged.

[raydetinu]

well HIPS are now not required, so that should not arise again.

they were always not worth the paper they were printed on as did not go far enough, but at that time it was a legal requirement and sellers had to pay for them, whether the property sold or not.

I suspect they would not have succeded with their claim unless it was in their contract, that the cost of the HIPS had to be paid for and what the cost was.

This was quite usual at the time.

[iconoclash]

It might have been "quite usual" but the point here is being mis-led, being told specifically that you will not have to pay anything face to face. The same company were sued before in court for their representatives behaviour but it still is the case today that Litigants in person get ****ed over by barristers and solicitors, the starting point is never even and fair and transparent and the government offer no respite for consumers. It seems that all business nowadays is designed to trap any many people as possible into paying endless premiums, interest and costs, cars, mortgages, credit cards, bank accounts, loans; little wonder that overseas companies love Britain, we have none of the restrictions that some other countries do. Doorstep selling and new companies backed by MPs that offer instant money with horrendous interest rates - it is appalling.

[raydetinu]

get if your chest then!

the point is they would not have to pay for it if they sold the house.

As it was not sold, then and I suspect it was in the contract that the HIP would have to be paid for, EA had to pay for it to be produced, and include it in their deal and part of their fee.

It was a failed goverment scheme, and that was how it was dealt with then.

[iconoclash]

get if your chest then!

the point is they would not have to pay for it if they sold the house.

As it was not sold, then and I suspect it was in the contract that the HIP would have to be paid for, EA had to pay for it to be produced, and include it in their deal and part of their fee.

It was a failed goverment scheme, and that was how it was dealt with then.

Hi - yes, indeed, if thats what happened but: they did not produce a HIP at the time, they did not give access to a HIP at the time, they did not even sign the contract but - hey ho - it arrived in court with a signature on it being a photocopy of course and to date they still refuse to disclose the original papers - but, yes, it does feel great getting it aired, even if it only serves to warn others - thanks

[raydetinu]

Cool with that, but HIPS not required now tho. defunct!

but as a general warning, contracts should be read before you sign anything!!