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Giving booking deposit to Dodgy Agent?

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  • 12-05-2006 11:55am
    #1
    sapper
    Registered Users Posts: 423 ✭✭


    My sister's gone sale agreed on a house in West Dublin that was being handled by a new estate agent. She's done some digging and she thinks this guy is a bit on the shaky side - he's just set up shop, he has no qualifications and most importantly, he's not bonded. She's worried about handing over a few grand to this guy.

    She's already asked him if she can pay her booking deposit directly to the vendors solicitor and he's refused (of course)

    Does she have any other options?


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    #2
    aniascor
    Registered Users Posts: 503 ✭✭✭aniascor


    Has she spoken to her solicitor to find out what he/she recommends?


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    #3
    FillSpectre
    Closed Accounts Posts: 834 ✭✭✭FillSpectre


    FInd out who the solicitor is and tell him that you don't want to give the booking deposit to the estate agent


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    #4
    sapper
    Registered Users Posts: 423 ✭✭sapper


    Her solicitor (sounds like a cheap one to me) says he can't do anything for her, and the vendors agent isn't going to cough up the info re. their solicitor without being paid the booking deposit...


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    #5
    aniascor
    Registered Users Posts: 503 ✭✭✭aniascor


    Well if she decides to pay it, make sure she has an email thread with the estate agent confirming that she is giving him this money as a booking deposit. Also, rather than paying by cheque or cash, she should do a direct transfer from her bank account to the estate agents, and ask the bank teller to mark the transaction "for booking deposit" or some other reference like that if it's possible. When I paid a booking deposit recently, it went into an account called "<estate_agent_name> - client account". This guy should have a similar set-up - it definitely shouldn't be a personal account.

    That way if things go belly up, she has a fairly strong paper trail to follow to get her money back.

    And she should insist of a receipt being posted to her within 1-2 working days.

    (BTW - I'm still not sure any of this would really help her if he decided to cut and run with the money, but you have to present so many different forms of ID these days to open a bank account that I figure he would be easy to track down. Maybe I am being naive.)


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    #6
    lomb
    Registered Users Posts: 6,031 ✭✭✭lomb


    as long as it has the words SUBJECT TO CONTRACT on the receipt then the deposit is refundable in FULL(i asked my solicitor and thats the advice i was given last month). he is legally resposible to refund it and he can be sued personally or for reckless trading if it is ltd and lose directorship titles. tbh he wont do it for a few grand. id pay him if she wants the house..


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    #7
    lomb
    Registered Users Posts: 6,031 ✭✭✭lomb


    aniascor wrote:
    (BTW - I'm still not sure any of this would really help her if he decided to cut and run with the money, but you have to present so many different forms of ID these days to open a bank account that I figure he would be easy to track down. Maybe I am being naive.)
    even to sign leases on a shop is incredibly onerous, he wont rob her for a few quid im 100% sure of that. its normal for the estate agent to be paid as thats how he is paid.


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    #8
    antoinolachtnai
    Registered Users Posts: 9,787 ✭✭✭antoinolachtnai


    The problem for the OP is that he could go out of business. It happens. If there is a collapse, the OP will have to join the queue of creditors.

    Does this guy even have a licence? Is he incorporated? Is he a member of any professional association? If he is incorporated (i.e., trading as a limited company) the risk is really greater.

    I don't like the fact that he won't tell your friend the name of the solicitor. This is not usual.

    Does your friend know for sure that this house is actually for sale. Don't laugh. My relatives put a deposit on a house from a well-known estate agent in Dublin 6, and the house turned out not to be for sale. The same has happened to me too.


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