Unregistered Estate agent will not pass on my offer?

Hi Laura,

HMRC have taken over the enforcement of the estate agency act from the OFT.

The OFT were very ineffective and HMRC are believed to want to show they have more teeth.

If the agents are not part of any scheme they will not have PI insurance either and should be reported.

Please see >> https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/april-2014-supervision-of-estate-agency-businesses-by-hmrc/april-2014-supervision-of-estate-agency-businesses-by-hmrc

Supervision of Estate Agency Businesses

On 1 April 2014 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) became the supervisor of Estate Agency Businesses under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

For more information about the regulations read the introduction to the money laundering regulations.

HMRC has published guidance for Estate Agency Businesses on how to comply with their obligations under the money laundering regulations and related legislation.

The guidance explains what businesses must do to protect themselves from the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing and how to report suspicious activity.

You could always put the offer through the vendor’s door or find their details on Land Registry. They should know the agent is refusing to put offers forward.

As a former estate agent I can understand the frustration with your offer not being put forward. It is a legal requirement that all offers are put forward however I suspect that they are reluctant to put the offer forward for two possible reasons. 1. They want the property for themselves or associates and are therefore suppressing offers for their own benefit, highly illegal, immoral and unscrupulous. 2. That your offer is so derisory that their client is likely to be so insulted that they are reluctant to put it forward. I have been guilty of the latter myself on one occasion when someone offered a price so low (60% of the asking price) that I could not risk the wrath of the client putting it forward and I told the person so at the time. Hopes this might help as to the reasoning however as to the method of actually getting your offer put forward this has been explained by other posters. Please understand this however will not necessarily guarantee your finding the vendor but it is a start.

Reply to the comment left by “Caroline Brooks” at “01/10/2015 – 10:43“:

I had a similar situation a few years ago with an agent not accepting my offer on a property. I therefore put the details of my offer in writing to the agent and demanded that he pass it on to the seller.He did, and I bought the property for less than he was aiming to get – maybe he was thinking of his commission. Laura, has the agent given any reason for his refusal ?

My client was in the same situation when a London auctioneer refused to put forward their offer for an unsold lot, the client simply put the offer into the receivers whose name was in the legal pack.
In your case suggest to obtain owners details from the land registry or sellers pack (England) or home report (Scotland).

Dear Laura,

The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team, hosted by Powys County Council, took over from the OFT in April 2014 as the UK’s regulator under the Estate Agents Act 1979 and, if you are willing, we would be keen to hear further about your situation.

Please feel free to contact us on [email protected]

Regards

NTSEAT

It might be illegal but quite a common practice in case the seller has already got an offer very close to asking price but has not accepted it (e.g. needs time to think) or has accepted the offer orally and is awaiting solicitors details. Estate agents don’t like to muddy the water and jeopardise the sale by passing on another offer, even if it is 3-5k higher. They also don’t want to reveal this to other prospective buyers in case the sale doesn’t proceed. I recently bought a place and frustatingly found almost all estate agents following this practice.

I once made an offer at 85% of the asking price and was told it was derisory by the estate agent even though I explained how I had arrived at my valuation (no new decoration for 52 years as an example) I then organised a 2nd viewing direct with the old lady so she could arrange for others to be there, she happily showed me around and was very miffed when I mentioned my offer (she knew nothing about it) I explained how I had arrived at my offer, we discussed the value and I agreed to purchase at 85% as offered, but I would accept the house as she left it and dispose of anything left behind that she didnt want to move at my cost

We were both happy the estate agent nearly had a seizure LOL