Are many agents really still unaware of Consumer Protection Regulations?
Or do some simply try to ignore the law – and, presumably, in the case that follows, in the hope that the buyer won’t bother to commission their own survey.
We came across this online, in a Linked In group for RICS members.
A surveyor writes: “I recently was instructed to undertake an inspection of a property in Manchester.
“I realised when I arrived at the property, I had undertaken a pre-purchase damp and timber survey on the property approximately two years before, which I made clear to the owners, as they were not my original clients.
“They informed me the property had not been sold since my first inspection.
“Following the [second] inspection it became clear the same extensive dampness defects were affecting the property.
“I know both the agent selling the property owner were the same and aware of the defects and my report, as they both rang me to discuss the issues as they were not too happy.
“My recent clients were not too happy they had not been informed of the report and the issues.
“Should the agent and the owner, knowing the details of the report, have disclosed this to the new owners under the OFT [sic] regulations?”
The National Estate Agency Trading Standards Team makes it very clear that the answer is “Yes”.
The official advice says that agents must not act with unfairness, going on to say: “Unfairness’ may arise from: giving false or misleading information to consumers (‘misleading actions’) [para 4.3-4.6], or hiding or failing to provide material information to consumers (‘misleading omissions’) [para 4.7-4.15].”
Are agents really still unaware of Consumer Protection Regulations?
Answer: YES not to mention BPR’s and correct AML proceedures
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CPR’s sorts out the men and women from the boys and girls. I’ve lost count of the number of defective properties we have sold and every purchaser was told and even shown the defects that are known at the time of viewing and reconfirmed at time of offer and what they need to mention to the surveyor before they go. Why or why negotiators hope buyers or surveyors won’t see the obvious or get to hear of defects later in the survey report never ceases to amaze me. All that happens is their fall through rate is sky high. “Thank you Mr Surveyor for noticing that, we were already warned about it by the selling agent and happy to proceed as the property is priced to reflect”. Forewarned works if you have the bottle.
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It’s funny (but not in a good way), most agents I know will try and hide from a bad survey. Mainly because surveys have a habit of being wrong a lot of the time.
I had an absolute stinker of a survey on a property recently and the buyers pulled out. I managed to persuade them to let me have a copy of the conclusions page and went to have a look at the property.
The surveyor had (amongst other things) recommended that a tiny area of flat roof might need replacing and that it would need a drone survey to be sure. His recommended cost for the survey alone was over £1,000.
Bizarrely, he completely forgot to mention that the owner had given him a copy of the 10 year guarantee for the roof that had been issued 18 months before.
He also mentioned that the property may need wall ties (which it did) but suggested the only way to check would be to remove 100% of the render top to bottom at a huge cost, put the wall ties in and re-render at a cost of £45,000.
The eventual bill was under £2,000 including redecoration.
There were 14 points in total, all but 3 had zero merit – the total cost of the alleged works was £250,000 (ish) on a £500,000 house – I swear you could have knocked it down and rebuilt it completely for that!
The good news is that the survey was so obviously wrong that it was a delightful pleasure to laugh and joke about it with incoming buyers.
I even achieved a higher price the second time around.
BUT, all the estate agents I spoke to were shocked that I was telling buyers about it.
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I tried to report the surveyor, as I believe his report amounted to gross misconduct. The vendor mentioned on the day that she thought he was in an “altered state” (polite medical jargon for off his rocker).
However, as I was not his client the RICS would not listen to me. They suggested that I should persuade his clients to complain.
His client threatened me with solicitors because I was (apparently) harassing them as their surveyor had done them a huge favour and saved them from a fate worse than death!
They then went on to give him a five star review on TrustPilot.
Blimey!
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I doubt there is an agent in the country that has not had a similar case at some time or another and found “the system” flawed when it comes to reporting poor surveyors with RICS. For a professional body to hide behind “your not the customer” doesn’t alter the fact the surveyor was inept and often cost the seller and agent expense through their own negligence or incompetence. RICS are not fit for purpose when it comes to tackling their own members faults.
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