High Street Estate Agents

[gwenlillian]

Hi - hoping this is the right place for this problem. I entered into a contract with a High St. estate agent to sell my house. It was for 12 weeks. The rep said that the HIP was free and that it wouldn't cost me anything to at least test the market but then argued with me constantly over my planning permission, my deeds, turning up at the house without appts. etc. I wrote at the end of the 12 wks and said I did not want them to roll over my agreement in any way, this was on the advice of another estate agent who wanted to treat us fairly unlike the ones we were with. Now 3 years later they have gotten judgment against me for hundreds, saying that I withdrew from the contract and that made the HIP payable. I just don't understand, as this means that whatever an estate agent does, whether they provide a fit and proper service or not, they will still get their pound of flesh. I couldn't get the judge to see that and I had no representation being a lone parent now on benefit. I am so fed up with this and now have to organise time to pay. I just can't believe this is fair or justice.

[TUTTSI]

Re: High Street Estate Agents

Did you sign a contract with the first Estate Agent who did the HIPS for free whilst they tested the market?

What paperwork did they go to court with to get obtain judgement against you?

[gwenlillian]

Re: High Street Estate Agents

Did you sign a contract with the first Estate Agent who did the HIPS for free whilst they tested the market?

What paperwork did they go to court with to get obtain judgement against you?

Hi - yes I did sign up to a 12 week contract and they used this in court against me with the usual stuff about whats in the small print - although i cannot find anything in the terms and conditions stating that you still pay the HIP if the contract term has ended and the DJ seemed to be railroaded by my opponent who was quite a bully - got away with cross-examining me and saying that i was on oath, taking ages to state his case over and over and re-directing the judge back to points to suit him again and again, the judge let him see papers of mine, in error, that were from a different case of mine, allowed him to present his new particulars a month out of time, didn't verify his statements of truth, didn't ask them to disclose originals of papers as I had requested. I he might as well have sat behind the desk with the DJ, it was a joke. The only positive thing was the DJ spotting that Seqeunce UK had admin charges in their costs and he threw them out as being a penalty. I now have to apply back to court again to get time to pay as I don't know of a course to change this debacle. thanks.

[bluebottle]

Re: High Street Estate Agents

You might wish to speak to a legal professional at your local Law Centre or Community Legal Service office about this. They can provide you with free or very low-cost legal advice. I am very surprised the judge allowed your opponent to behave in the way they did and not comply with legal procedures.

[gwenlillian]

Re: High Street Estate Agents

You might wish to speak to a legal professional at your local Law Centre or Community Legal Service office about this. They can provide you with free or very low-cost legal advice. I am very surprised the judge allowed your opponent to behave in the way they did and not comply with legal procedures.

hi and thanks for responding - I am on benefits as a lone parent and i am entitled to legal aid i think but, the problem is getting to the town they designate which is twenty miles from me. I think I will not get help in time as I have only 14 days but, yes, do agree that the judge was not on my side at all and kept calling me mrs williams - who? no-one here by that name, and then miss "Wright" the opponents name, anyway, I could make a fuss or try to complain to whomever oversees these matters, or just write to the judge and ask him what he thinks about x and y at that hearing and meantime i have to apply for a time order or is it a variation order, as i cannot pay over 600 in such short notice, be more like a year or two as i already get deductions for gas payments. grrrrr. so annoying - i am going to complain like mad to the property ombusdman and the company directors of both sequence, connells and skipton building society as they are all in bed together.

[bluebottle]

Re: High Street Estate Agents

Do the t & cs contain a provision to charge for the HIP, whatever? If not, the case should never have been allowed to be listed, let alone given court time.

From what you have said in Post #5, no way should the judge have allowed the other side to have behaved in the way they did. I am surprised you are not applying to have the judgement set aside on the grounds that proper procedures were not complied with and that your case was compromised by the judge's failure to ensure compliance, as well as letting the other side see papers from another case. I would certainly make a complaint to the Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for judges.

The postal address is -

Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke PC QC MP
Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

[gwenlillian]

Re: High Street Estate Agents

Do the t & cs contain a provision to charge for the HIP, whatever? If not, the case should never have been allowed to be listed, let alone given court time.

From what you have said in Post #5, no way should the judge have allowed the other side to have behaved in the way they did. I am surprised you are not applying to have the judgement set aside on the grounds that proper procedures were not complied with and that your case was compromised by the judge's failure to ensure compliance, as well as letting the other side see papers from another case. I would certainly make a complaint to the Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for judges.

The postal address is -

Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke PC QC MP
Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

Hi and thanks - I will be making a complaint. Meantime, I have read the t & c they used in court, which I did not see when I signed, and warn others to be very careful about signing with Sequence UK Ltd, as their terms basically state that you pay them, regardless. So, if you cancel, even within the cooling off period, they charge you. If you cancel because you think they are **** they charge you. If they do not get you a buyer, they charge you. Their terms seem to contradict what standard contract law might require, they do not seem to comply with anything I've read before and don't seem to be covered by CCA for example and as for being transparent and fair - forget that, as they have chased me 3 years down the line to pay for a HIP that they didnt produce prior to marketing, as required by law, that didn't comply with the regs, and that I could not see or verify at the time, or since, without paying large fees to do so. So, what law asks a consumer to pay for something that they cannot verify before handing over the dosh?! Is this what the Secretary of State had in mind when setting up the scheme (now defunct of course) - I think not.:tinysmile_cry_t: