estate agent trying it on...what are our chances?

[ionesmum]

We are hoping to buy a house from a friend. We have known the family for five years, and have known that their house is for sale for two years. The only way we can afford it is because it is a private sale so the owner will be saving on estate agency fees, and therefore is prepared to drop his price. Now one of the local agencies is saying that he will have to pay fees as they have e-mailed the details to us a month ago, even though we are familiar with the house and started to talk about buying it a long time ago. We have never viewed the property through them or even discussed it with them. I understand that some contracts say that fees are payable if a buyer finds out that a property is for sale because of an e'mail, but we clearly are aware that the house is on the market through our friendship, and prior to the e-mail. The owner is refusing to sell to us unless either the agent changes their minds or we cover his fees, which we can't afford. We think the agent is in the wrong. Can anyone help?

ok. The person to complain to (in the first instance) is whoever is controlling the use of your data - so here it would be the estate agents. I would just write to them (addressed to the head of the office by name if poss) saying you've become aware of how they are using your details, that they don't have your consent to it as required by the Data Protection Act and could they confirm to you asap that they have stopped using your data in this way. Maybe phone them to follow it up in case it gets stuck in someone's in-tray.

There is more info here , but please CAT me if you'd like more detail.

THank you so much Carolina. I'm soooooo cross!!!!

Glad your friend is getting legal advice, its obviously difficult to post without seeing the contract.

It would be useful if you have any evidence of the fact that you have been considering buying this property - letter, email etc.., even if you haven't a time line roughly stating the dealings with the other party would be useful.

With some evidence the seller can write them a letter, refer to the fact that you received the email and then state that this does not apply as you have been negotiating privately as evidenced by ...... Then the seller can ask for written confirmation that the contract is terminated.

Good luck

Thank you, Kaz. Unfortunately the only documentary evidence that we have is the date written on our calendar when we viewed the house specifically with a view to buy. Because the owner and dh see each other all the time we've never had to contact each other by letter or e-mail. There are other people who knew that we were viewing the house including my parents - they viewed with me later the same week - and various friends, but I don't know how much weight their confirmation will carry. The time line idea is good, dh first started talking about it last autumn so it's been a while, the only reason we left it so long is that the owner only recently dropped his asking price.

I will post as to what happens!

Have a lovely holiday, Kaz. Hope the weather is good!

Weather is great and the place we are staying is kid heaven, only day 2 and already feeling relaxed. Fab view of sea from bedroom. Aaaargh.

I'll be logging in so keep us updated.

Okay, here is the update. Dh's mate took legal advice and was told that he should not contact the estate agent. So he decided (of course) that the best thing to do was contact the agent and tell them everything. Apparently the agent has offered to accept half of the fees he would have to pay if he'd sold through them, and he expects us to pay said fees. The reason for this is that the agent has 'done such a good job marketing my house' (er, why hasn't it sold in 11 mo then?) and actually, it's his house, not ours, so why exactly should we pay for it??????????? Apparently it is all our fault for being on this agent's list (um, we are trying to buy a house?). We were prepared to pay a little towards it but he's being so unreasonable that atm we are likely to tell him to stuff it. If he is telling the truth he is being very dim - the estate agent wouldn't settle so easily if they had a case, and he won't get a better offer - but dh reckons he's pulling a fast one. Either way, unless he changes his mind soon, he's lost his purchaser - and we are chain-free. Berk.

I don't suppose any of this helps those of you interested in the legal outcome but I thought I would let you know how we are getting on. Thanks to everyone who has helped. Kaz, special thanks for interrupting your holiday, I hope you had a great time.

Bad news, you seem to have a very good handle on it - stupid seller and estate agent can't believe his luck.

Good luck with your house searching.

Sorry to hear this.However,if your Dh's mate is this stupid,it is as well that you found out now rather than at the point of having spent money on surveys,conveyancing ect.

I hope you find another,far better house soon.