I often mention my “pet peeves”, and let’s be honest, after doing this job for so many years, there are a few! But let me tell you about one which irritates me – one which shouldn’t happen if the job is being done properly.
We all know the case – you receive a Memorandum of Sale for the estate agents and the sellers are stated to be John Smith. The contract documents arrive and the property is owned by Jean Jones.
Enquiries reveal that John and Jean live together but that John is not named as an owner even though he is the one named in the Memorandum of Sale.
Now correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that an estate agent was under an obligation to identify who is the legal owner of the property being sold. I had read that the Property Ombudsman Code of Conduct states that the estate agent must take reasonable steps to confirm legal ownership.
If that is the case, why am I being told that John is the owner when this is not right?
Or what about this scenario – you receive the Memorandum of Sale and it says that Jane Turner is the seller, but when you receive the initial letter from the seller’s solicitor, it states that Rosemary Turner is the seller and that Jane is acting as Attorney.
What’s more, the buyer is stated to be Peter Davis but the letter from the buyer’s solicitor states that it is not Peter buying the property.
In these cases, are we to assume that the agent has not carried out full checks on either the buyer or the seller? Surely the agents are under a duty to check the source of funding for the buyer which would involve obtaining a copy of passport and other identity documents as well as bank statements and any discrepancy could be dealt with at that point.
Is it that someone else in the agents’ office prepares the Memorandum of Sale and they do not check what documents have been inspected?
And what about when we get a Memorandum which just states that the property is being bought by Mr. P. Davis? A full name and address would help, especially so we could check it with the buyers’ solicitor and get the first draft of the contract correct.
All too many times, contracts are returned as the buyers’ full names are not correct. My plea to agents: put the full names and addresses in the Memorandum of Sale. My plea to buyers’ solicitors: check the names and addresses in the Memorandum of Sale, confirm if they are correct and, if not, provide me with the correct details and I can then get the contract right the first time. No added Special Conditions (unless absolutely necessary) and by doing so, let’s try and make a simple cut to the time it takes for people to move!
