A leaked memo reveals that independent estate agent Ian Wyn-Jones who is facing allegations that he misled some of his former clients after being instructed to sell their properties has been suspended by eXp UK.
Wyn-Jones, from Anglesey, has two decades of experience in the industry, and operates as a self-employed estate agent under the eXp UK brand, is currently being investigated by the franchise following a string of allegations accusing him of creating fake visits and feedback, false offers for houses, and failing to pass on offers to sellers.
The independent estate agent, a former Purplebricks territory manager, was the subject of an investigation by the current affairs series Y Byd ar Bedwar in Wales this week. The allegations range between 2019 and 2023.
eXp UK issued EYE with a statement yesterday in which it confirms that an internal review of the matter is currently being carried out. See article below.
While officially no further statement will be issued by the firm until the matter has concluded, unofficially the company has written to all eXp UK agents informing them that Wyn-Jones, who also previously worked as an estate agent with easyProperty, has been suspended. His website has been taken offline.
Internal correspondence shared with EYE by a well-placed source reveals that the head of the business, Adam Day, issued the following statement to all agents yesterday:
“Many of you will have seen the article in PIE [Property Industry Eye] this morning relating to the TV programme yesterday evening regarding one of our agents.
“As a result of the programme, we’ve decided to suspend the agent from eXp UK until we have conducted & concluded a full investigation in to the claims and allegations made
“This investigation will involve a standards committee based in the US
“It would be premature to comment further until then, except to say that much of the programme was dedicated to alleged issues from 2019, which was before the agent joined eXp.
“There’ll be no further comment, and we would politely ask you not to engage in any social media related to this.”
Estate agent accused of abusing position and misleading clients
But, But But – Ian Wyn-Jones is an independent estate agent in his own right and a highly successful one in North Wales with a track record of selling a high volume of properties over many years.
The initial reaction is to defend him and now it’s all kicked off its time to do the right thing?
Leadership is about having clearly defined principles and guidelines, a code of conduct everyone can understand so everyone knows the consequences and respects the framework.
We’ll facilitate your self employment, behave yourself and we’ll stand up for you isn’t much of a deterrent to those who are a little bit wooh, a little bit way, a little bit whatever
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I can already hear the gloating and hand-wringing from many quarters about this, however in reality this is ONE eXp agent (that we know about, of course) that has been caught out.
I don’t care what kind of organisation you are, everyone is susceptible to having problems with at least one person. How many traditional agents have had to sack someone over the years? I know I have.
I’m not part of eXp any more, however I was for about a year, and much as this won’t fit the narrative of many people, I can tell you that they don’t just let anyone in. No matter how robust your recruitment policy, someone always has the potential to slip through the net and cause a problem. What is important is how you as a company deal with that problem.
This is very much an Ian Wyn-Jones problem, rather than an eXp problem.
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The published disciplinary hearings by the RICS show that professional firms with a strict code of conduct can and do get up to all sorts, many of the far worse than what was described yesterday.
People don’t always do what’s expected of them so the principle must be that what’s right is far more important than those who digress
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You are correct that eXp don’t let anyone join. You need 2 years of experience. But that also means that due diligence can, and should have been carried out. Even here in London there were stories abound about how IWJ was winning business within PB, given the time frames prior to joining eXp it was obvious he was also removed from easyProperty before porting over. Incidentally both were models where you were paid to list and not sell….
Assuming diligence was carried out then it looks like a cynical cash grab for someone’s profit share and a chunk of eXp boards until the same pattern repeated itself.
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I cannot understand Exp’s comment that most of the issues highlighted in the S4C programme pre-dated him joining them. I have seen the sad stories included in the programme and there are many more than were broadcast, none predated his time with Exp.
I cannot wait to see what their review will cover – previous complaints have been whitewashed by Exp.
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What a depressing CV.
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How embarrassing for the car boot squad.
You can almost hear the boot lids slamming, and tyres squealing, as they quickly drive away from the scene.
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I’ve not seen the program but he seems to have been russel brand of agency.
Is the person who commissioned the program related to one of his ‘ victims’ ?
Seems a bit lame to make a TV program from it.
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It feels like, for eXp, this is a much wider issue than with just one estate agent:
uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.exp.uk.com
I think it’s about time they reviewed their agents to make sure our industry isn’t being tarnished by these ‘independent agents’ – where is the accountability to make sure sellers, buyers, landlords and tenants are being treated with a set of minimum standards?
It’s a shame as I assume there are a lot of good agents at eXp but they’re being let down by others operating under the brand they work under
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So no high street agents ever misleads anyone???????????????
Really !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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