OFT “sole agency” agreement warning
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said that “sole agency” agreements with estate agents could end up costing homeowners double the fees.
This timely warning is designed to prevent consumers paying more agent fees when selling their homes.
At a time when the cost of moving house leaves finances stretched with stamp duty, agent fees and high interest rates driving up mortgage repayments, such a mistake could be expensive.
The problem arises from consumers selling their property through an agent other than the one they signed a sole agency agreement with, leading to paying two sets of fees for both agents.
According to the OFT, some internet property retailers claim not to be estate agents when they are, which is misleading consumers and exacerbating the problem.
Consumers are warned to be wary of using internet property retailers to sell there home when they have signed a sole trader agreement with an estate agent.
