Am I being shafted??

[tpandrews]

Hello everyone, just found this site as I was googling termination fees so thought I might pick your brains.

I have a 16 week agreement with an estate agent in Plymouth and that has now come to an end. In those 16 weeks I have reduced my asking price by 20K and still only had 4 viewings whilst other similar sized properties are selling around me for more. Because of this I have asked my agent to terminate the contract and they are asking me for £180 marketing fee. I would understand this if I was still within the agreement term but it has ended now and on top of that in the contract it says that the early termination fee to cover their marketing costs is £150.

The staff at the branch seem pretty friendly but the branch manager is awful and I've had a similar experience buying with the same agent in Milton Keynes perhaps it's their policy to employ rude branch managers who insist on making my pregnant missus go mental!!

Anyway back to the topic, can they still charge this fee outside of the agreement term or am I being shafted??


Many Thanks

[Adam Long]

They can only charge the fee if your documentation says that they can if it states that the fee is only payable inside the tied in period then tell them firmly but politely that it is not a contractual obligation and that you are not paying it.

If they argue then say that you have spoken to the local trading standards who have advised you not to pay and that should shut them up !!!

[tpandrews]

Originally Posted by Adam Long

They can only charge the fee if your documentation says that they can if it states that the fee is only payable inside the tied in period then tell them firmly but politely that it is not a contractual obligation and that you are not paying it.

If they argue then say that you have spoken to the local trading standards who have advised you not to pay and that should shut them up !!!

thanks, have checked my paperwork, it says the fee is payable but that is a 16 week agreement of which we are now in week 17, been doing a little digging and apparently this estate agent folded a little while ago to be reformed under a different name. They folded because of a string of similar complaints made to the Property Services Ombudsman.