Really need some advice re Estate Agency

[steampowered]

When you say "made-up" DOB and driving license number, are they the correct details or not?

 

The best thing to do might be to escalate to the Property Ombudsman.

Edited May 27, 2013 by slick132
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[steampowered]

Interesting. Filling in forms for people is very bad practice but is common. However making up personal details is clear evidence of fraud, pure and simple - it was foolish of the agent to fill them in, he would be better off leaving it blank. I would try and get in touch with The Property Ombudsman. The other option is court but it sounds like court could be too high stress for you.

 

You need to think about what kind of result you want to get out of this. If no fee was agreed you will have to pay a 'reasonable' fee. This link suggests the national average is about 1.8%: http://www.which.co.uk/news/2011/03/estate-agents-fees-exposed-248666/. However, you would expect a higher percentage for lower value properties.... if £2000 is 4% of the property price, your property was sold for £50000.... I do not know very much about estate agent fees but to me a fixed fee of £2000 actually sounds quite low. The link I posted suggests that Bridgfords' had a minimum fee of £2250 in 2011.

 

If the agent has genuinely given you a discount on their standard fees, and they are charging similar fees to what other local estate agents charge, then a fee of around £2000 will be seen as a 'reasonable' fee. If this is the case then regrettably I do not think you have anything to gain from this financially. Filling in made-up details is still a professional conduct issue which should be reported but this by itself is unlikely to result in you getting any compensation.

Edited May 27, 2013 by slick132
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[steampowered]

In my opinion, the agent has committed a crime under the fraud act, by lying about my driving licence details; broken the laws on the money laundering regulations and by signing a box to pass my details onto 3rd parties, broken some privacy laws. Not to mention violated the estate agents act and the property ombudsmans code of conduct.

 

Given the stress the agency has caused me and how their behaviour has been I don't think I should pay them anything. Surely I am under no obligation too as our contract is a falsified document and therefore void?

 

I do not think you are right to assume that your contract with the agency is invalid. Ultimately, you still instructed them to sell your property and you knew of their terms. You can still have a contract even if nothing is signed.

 

Now you could say that there was no agreement about the fee. If a court agreed witht his, you still instructed them to provide services and thus you would have to pay a reasonable fee. As you already received a discount to their standard fee I think it is unlikely that a reasonable fee would be much less than what you are currently being asked to pay.

 

I am not convinced this is a crime under the Fraud Act; filling in your driving license details was dishonest, but for fraud the act must also be intended to result in a monetary gain and as the estate agent was already instructed I do not think the requirements for fraud are met. Signing a box to pass your details to third parties is a breach of the Data Protection Act, but a breach that is easily rectified by writing to the estate agent withdrawing consent to pass on your details. No doubt this is a breach of the Property Ombudsman Code of Conduct and could merit a complaint. The Ombudsman would probably give them a ticking off but unfortunately I do not think any of this relieves from you your obligation to pay the estate agent for their services.

 

Ultimately, despite their wrongdoing, you still instructed the estate agent to sell your property and they successfully provided this service - so payment is due. You could ask for a discount - particularly in view of the fact that you could cause trouble for them with an Ombudsman complaint - but I think it is unrealistic to expect to get away from this without paying anything.

Edited May 28, 2013 by slick132
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[steampowered]

I think this would be a very risky strategy. Generally speaking, once you sign something you are bound by it. My understanding is that you did sign their terms and conditions and you did instruct them to market the property. Entering your DOB or driving license details are not a legal requirement for a contract to be valid, and these details have very little to do with your contract with the estate agent (they are there so that the estate agent can comply with its obligations to make sure their services are not being used to launder the proceeds of crime which does not involve you). Unfortunately I do not think the falsification of these details affects your consent to the terms of the agreement.

 

Clause 5 of the terms allows you to terminate their engagement on two weeks' written notice. So write to them and give your two weeks' notice terminating the agreement. This should get you away from them, subject to the following caveat.

 

The agreement has an important distinction between sole agency and multiple agency. If they were instructed on a sole agent basis you are required to pay the fee if you exchange contracts with a purchaser introduced to you during the contract period. Note that the fee is payable even if you wait to exchange contracts until after the period, and is payable even if the purchaser was introduced by another estate agent. However If they were instructed on a multiple agency basis you would only be required to pay the fee if contracts are exchanged with a buyer introduced by them. If the agreement you returned to them did not explain whether they were instructed on a sole or multiple agency basis I imagine they would have difficulty showing sole agency if this reached court.

[steampowered]

Although there was no agreement about the price you did sign the terms and conditions, and are therefore more than likely bound by the terms and conditions.

 

However, the T&Cs do allow you to terminate the engagement on two weeks' written notice. I think the most sensible approach would be to write to them formally terminating their engagement and wait two weeks' before marketing the property yourself or through a different agent.

Edited May 29, 2013 by steampowered