Case study: when a sole agency agreement stood despite customer complaint

COMPLAINT A case that The Property Ombudsman was asked to review came from a seller concerning the agent’s estate agency agreement. The seller believed that the terms and conditions within the agreement, concerning their liability to pay the agent’s commission fee, lacked clarity and that the agent had not fully complied with their obligations under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. The seller wanted the agent to change their agency agreement in order for their fee liability to end and compensate them for the aggravation and inconvenience caused by the agent’s actions. INVESTIGATION When investigating this complaint, the Ombudsman took paragraphs 5m and 5n of the Codes of Practice into account. Paragraph 5m explains that an agent’s Terms of Business must clearly state the minimum duration of their instruction and how instruction can be terminated by either party. When a contract is signed by a client (the seller) during a visit by the agent to their home, at their work place, away from the agent’s premises or online, then they must be given a right to cancel that contract within 14 calendar days of signing. The client should be given a ‘Notice of Right to Cancel’.…