Jump to content

Estate agent fees


leeds chimp
 Share

Recommended Posts

 Bit of an interesting one... 

 

Agreed to put our house on the market Sept 17 with EA1 ...had one viewing which went no where at the time.... Sent 2 letters of complaint about the service and agreed to part ways in Jan 18 with the contract null and void.  

Signed up with EA2 who were great... 

Then the viewers from EA1 came back with an offer which we accepted in March which was done verbally .... Was told would need a new contract as that EA had gone bust and all business had been transferred to EA3 .

Asked for all relevant paperwork to be sent then but have received nothing at all... I have had no contact with EA3 despite sending 2 letters asking for paperwork etc to be sent.  

 

Where do I stand with the fee?  As looking to complete next week but they have nothing in writing from me to say they could market the house and have not even dealt with it 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd read all of the terms from all of the estate agents, as EA1 found the people that are buying you may have to still pay their commission as well.

We are in the process of changing estate agent and was advised by an estate agent friend to get a list of people the first estate agent had view the property for that very reason.

Edited by Newbie to this
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Newbie to this said:

I'd read all of the terms from all of the estate agents, as EA1 found the people that are buying you may have to still pay their commission as well.

We are in the process of changing estate agent and was advised by an estate agent friend to get a list of people the first estate agent had view the property for that very reason.

EA1 has been liquidated.... And we have heard nothing from EA3

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might have the wrong end of the stick, but if you cancelled the contract with EA1, then even though the person who viewed your house did so through EA1, then EA3 (their successors) have no right to ask for anything.

EA2 haven't supplied a buyer, aren't entitled to anything either.

I'd check it out with Citizen's advice before I handed over any money to anyone. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, spandit said:

If you have the buyers details just cut out the estate agent and pay no fees. It sounds like you've tried getting EA3 to get involved but if they haven't responded then save the money

This, as long as EA1 who made the first intro has no hooks into you and EA2 has gone bust bust ie there’s no one looking to collect or realise or assume that entities assets / business. Get a commercial solicitor from the Solicitors firm that’s doing your conveyancing work to look it over and approve your course of action - if they get it wrong their insured and you have a secuiry blanket.

Or just crack on and hold the agents fee in an account ‘just in case’. The problem with that is if you have made a muddle of understanding the legal position and if there are penalty provisions for late / non payment of any EA fees (most contain a kicker that doubles or trebles the fee if it’s not paid within X days of completion) then it will get really expensive.

So, be safe and see a proper solicitor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Mungler said:

This, as long as EA1 who made the first intro has no hooks into you and EA2 has gone bust bust ie there’s no one looking to collect or realise or assume that entities assets / business. Get a commercial solicitor from the Solicitors firm that’s doing your conveyancing work to look it over and approve your course of action - if they get it wrong their insured and you have a secuiry blanket.

Or just crack on and hold the agents fee in an account ‘just in case’. The problem with that is if you have made a muddle of understanding the legal position and if there are penalty provisions for late / non payment of any EA fees (most contain a kicker that doubles or trebles the fee if it’s not paid within X days of completion) then it will get really expensive.

So, be safe and see a proper solicitor.

EA1 did the introduction but have now gone bust.... And have heard nothing from EA3 who were meant to take it all on.... Asked for copy contracts and details 4-5 times and not heard a thing.... 

Just my view I have no contract with EA3 as never signed anything with them and no correspondence at all 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definetely go the solicitor route, just sold my house after swapping estate agents, vendors had used first agents for viewing but used 2nd agent to reviewand make offer. As seller i wouldnt have names of people viewing so was unaware the first agent had introduced these people to my property,until i also had a bill from them, ended up paying 2 fees

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Digger79 said:

Definetely go the solicitor route, just sold my house after swapping estate agents, vendors had used first agents for viewing but used 2nd agent to reviewand make offer. As seller i wouldnt have names of people viewing so was unaware the first agent had introduced these people to my property,until i also had a bill from them, ended up paying 2 fees

There was a court case on that one and the judge decided that only one set of fees need to be paid... 

19 hours ago, Mice! said:

what are your solicitor saying? The estate agent does nothing except find the buyer, this third EA may have bought the contracts from EA2 and you could end up with a letter you don't want with a big bill?

If they have bought the contracts surely they should have done a formal introduction by letter or something... And don't I have a choice if they deal with it or not?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, leeds chimp said:

There was a court case on that one and the judge decided that only one set of fees need to be paid... 

If they have bought the contracts surely they should have done a formal introduction by letter or something... And don't I have a choice if they deal with it or not?  

No idea mate, thats why i said check with your solicitor. It sounds like you shouldn't be paying EA3 anything to me but I've no idea of the legalities involved 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm no expert, but you own nothing to anyone, not even EA3. Your contract with EA2 cannot be handed unilaterally over to EA3, you would have needed to sign up with them to have a contract for them to enforce. 

This is just my lay-opinion, I am not a lawyer, but my gut feeling is that you are quids in! 

Oh, and if they suddenly send a letter of contract out for you to sign, when they realise their error, don't sign it (a similar thing happened to a friend) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...