A high street firm has accused agents across the UK of dirty tricks, describing them as the “underbelly of the industry”.
James Pendleton, which has ten offices in south and west London, said regulation may be the only way to stamp out poor practices.
Founder Lee James Pendleton said the tricks included refusing to pass on offers, inventing buyers and dreaming up fictional offers and viewings.
Pendleton claims that some agents are not just trying to gain the upper hand over the competition – but also their own colleagues.
He said: “This is the truth about the underbelly of this industry. It is unregulated and, as a result, attracts some pretty unscrupulous characters.
“You’ve got to remember that someone a day out of prison with no qualifications or ethical compass can set up an estate agency and sell your home.
“It’s vital consumers realise this and shop around. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming all estate agencies are born equal, far from it.
“Regulation may be the only way to stamp out the poor practices that undermine the hard work of the vast majority of agents.
“All estate agents have to be a member of an ombudsman scheme and, like regulation, there is a cost attached. However, there’s scant evidence in my view that enough is being done to raise standards sufficiently where it’s most needed.”
Pendleton’s top ten list of alleged ‘dirty tricks’ by agents, includes “gazumping” their own buyers – otherwise possibly known as getting the best price for your cleint.
We thought we’d leave this to you.
| 1 | Putting boards up on properties they haven’t been asked to sell or let |
| 2 | Advising clients on offers from fictional buyers (yes they always fall through) |
| 3 | Not revealing to a seller that a deal has fallen through, while they scramble to find another buyer before they lose the instruction |
| 4 | Dreaming up fictional offers from non-existent viewings to push buyers into raising their offer |
| 5 | Refusing to hand over the keys to rival firms when a property is being marketed by more than one agent |
| 6 | Refusing to pass on an acceptable offer to the vendor knowing the buyer will go higher and boost their commission |
| 7 | Deleting applicants and their offers from the firm’s database so buyers registered with colleagues are out of the running |
| 8 | Gazumping their own buyers with a better offer from another customer |
| 9 | Under-valuing a property in order to sell or let it to a developer or friend |
| 10 | Recommending offers from buyers just because they are signed up to their solicitors and brokers |
Either Mr Pendleton is new to the business or he’s been around some time not realising that one of an estate agent’s primary obligations in law is to act in the best interest of their clients, especially when it comes to realising the best price for their most valuable asset, their property.
Is he really saying that once he’s agreed a sale he won’t pass on any offers to his client?
That if a buyer made a very low offer to take advantage of an elderly seller but was clearly prepared to pay more he wouldn’t negotiate the price up?
That if a sale was agreed to a ‘developer or a friend’ he wouldn’t put a higher offer forward because that would be gazumping?
For a 10 branch firm, this is scary and I can’t help wondering how his sellers, or even more importantly previous sellers that he’s sold for, feel about this.
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Exactly!
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