Surely accepting a relisting is accepting existing terms but extended duration. Email or not it will be a contract. This is a well known situation and you do not need a board outside your house to state that an agent is acting for you. Were the details up in their office?
Estate Agent Demanding Fees After Sale Through Another Agent
- Thread starter Transform_IT
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Surely accepting a relisting is accepting existing terms but extended duration. Email or not it will be a contract. This is a well known situation and you do not need a board outside your house to state that an agent is acting for you. Were the details up in their office?
Grey area isn't it - he hasn't signed anything but there could be something in the contract about relisting is accepting a new contract. Hence why he needs a copy of the contract and legal advice.
I agree with the last statement however I don't think that it is at all a grey area. The OP had two agents listing the property.
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Not at the same time, I had one agent March 23 - August 23 and then another November 23 - March 24
Exactly when in July 2023 did you relist? This will be the start of the 6 month engagement (you took the house off the market, so this restarts the clock).
What date did you exchange contracts with the buyers? If this is more than 6 months after the above, then you should be fine. I would perhaps use your solicitor to advise on the wording, but remind the original agent of the start and end date of their contract and what the exchange date was.
If the exchange date was within 6 months of the date in July 2023 - you're stuffed. However - make sure any payment is made to the Estate Agency as a company that was listed in your contract, and not directly to a person or different business. If the director is brought the firm into disrepute, they may not be trading under the same company, in which case they may not be able to take the funds off you anyway.
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Soldato
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When in August 2023 did your contract end, and when in February 2024 did you exchange contracts? Exact dates are critical here.
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I got the date wrong. Exchange and completion was on 12th March. I ended the contract/de-listed the house on August 15th.
This should then be fine, as you're over the 6 months.
My advice would be to ignore the 1st agent and not deal with the issue. If they push it, ask for a signed copy of the contract and for them to confirm in writing that they received your notification to cease marketing the property on 15th August. If they confirm this and provide you with the contract that shows 6 months then they don't have a leg to stand on.
Soldato
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Its almost certainly 6 months from when they ceased to be your agent, to when they contracts were exchanged.
When exactly did you give them notice they they were no longer your agent, did that also have a cooling off period as they would have been your agent until that notice was complete.
At the point of contracts being exchanged then legally they have sold your house for you in regards to the service of an estate agent.
When exactly did you give them notice they they were no longer your agent, did that also have a cooling off period as they would have been your agent until that notice was complete.
At the point of contracts being exchanged then legally they have sold your house for you in regards to the service of an estate agent.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Do you reckon?
The introduction would have happened months before the exchange though.
Soldato
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When they are your agent they are your agent.*
6 months after they cease seems to be a reasonable length of time (as its commonly used so no doubt someone has challenged it at some point legally) for someone you introduced to buy or not a house.
*Agency law has its own law on what can be expected and what should happen etc.
One thing is that an agent working in good faith will be recompensed for activity undertaken as said agent.
They are your agent until they cease to be for whatever reason.
It doesn't seem an unreasonable position overall.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Hmm tricky --- the new agent will have the date stamp of the visit. Maybe that'll exonerate OP; as it'll be X months since agent 1 introduced them.
House buying/selling is such a car crash lol.
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I have not responded to the agent, and I received a voicemail today asking me to phone them. I have asked my solicitor for legal advice and am awaiting a response.
Would there not be some bearing of responsibility on the second agent for effectively taking on that introduction. It doesn't sit well that you'd have to pay the second agent full fees if you then also have to pay the first agents fees - in reality the second agent should be liable to pass some/most of the commission costs back to the first agent.
Good point, specific wording of the contract needed really. If it was based upon exchange or completion though I'm surprised the typical limit is only 6 months. House purchases in this country drag on for many months - it could be a couple of months to find a buyer and then a number of months to go through the conveyancing process at which point they've then surpassed their 6 month window.
There is a whole thing legally in that you can't hold someone hostage with overly long or indefinite clauses - the purpose of these terms is to prevent people using an estate agent to meet a buyer and then cut the estate agent immediately out of that process and deny them any remuneration, so 6 months is reasonable to put in the contract but legally depending on circumstances if it went to court it would likely come down to a few weeks unless it was clear cut that the intention was to deny the estate agent fees due for their services.
EDIT: Though this isn't legal advice - there are different ways it could go if it came to court depending on the actual details.
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Conversations happen but ultimately the land registry will say who owns it...
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Yeah exactly this. Do nothing, leave it with your solicitor.
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The solicitor has reviewed this part:
FEE ENTITLEMENT
The commission fee will be earned by us if we introduce, directly or indirectly a person who contracts to purchase the property during the period of contract. We have a specific entitlement to a fee if: The property is sold to a family member; One of the owners buys another owners share (e.g. as part of a separation agreement); The property is sold to a Property Developer; The property is part exchanged; The property is sold at auction or is repossessed; if the seller withdraws for any reason after contracts are exchanged. We will have a commission fee entitlement if you terminate our agreement and then sell your property to a buyer introduced by us within six months of the date our agreement ends.
and has said:
It is standard practice for an estate agent’s contract to incorporate terms & conditions that provide for their commission to be paid in circumstances where you have terminated the agreement but subsequently sell to someone they introduced.
The agent in question considers the couple you who purchased has been introduced by them. Whether that is justified or not will obviously depend on the facts and also the specific wording of the agreement.
The agreement terms state this right to charge expires after six months. And by the dates provided, this appears to be the case.
In order to provide specific advice you would need to schedule a first appointment with me in order that you can provide me with more detailed instructions. There is a fixed fee cost for that of £330 plus VAT.
FEE ENTITLEMENT
The commission fee will be earned by us if we introduce, directly or indirectly a person who contracts to purchase the property during the period of contract. We have a specific entitlement to a fee if: The property is sold to a family member; One of the owners buys another owners share (e.g. as part of a separation agreement); The property is sold to a Property Developer; The property is part exchanged; The property is sold at auction or is repossessed; if the seller withdraws for any reason after contracts are exchanged. We will have a commission fee entitlement if you terminate our agreement and then sell your property to a buyer introduced by us within six months of the date our agreement ends.
and has said:
It is standard practice for an estate agent’s contract to incorporate terms & conditions that provide for their commission to be paid in circumstances where you have terminated the agreement but subsequently sell to someone they introduced.
The agent in question considers the couple you who purchased has been introduced by them. Whether that is justified or not will obviously depend on the facts and also the specific wording of the agreement.
The agreement terms state this right to charge expires after six months. And by the dates provided, this appears to be the case.
In order to provide specific advice you would need to schedule a first appointment with me in order that you can provide me with more detailed instructions. There is a fixed fee cost for that of £330 plus VAT.