Complaint About an Estate Agent

gmisk

I am considering make a complaint about an Estate Agent, any advice would be much appreciated.
Not to go into details but....
I was sale agreed on a house a few years ago (140k).
The estate agent was dodgy from the start, he said that owner would prefer 30k! in cash!! (as bank were making him sell the property), then to declare price of 110 for mortgage purposes. This isnt something I would entertain.
Eventually the EA/dodgy owner accepted my offer of 140k, however they wouldnt give tennant notice...so for that reason I pulled out (amongst others!) I pulled out of the sale.

I now see looking at the property price register the house was sold a few months late for 110k....I find this very very coincidental...clearly 110 is below market value.

Is it worth reporting this dodgy Estate Agent the PSRA or someone?
I am probably on a hiding to nothing as no evidence of the 30k cash payment request....

gandalf

Do you know who the bank were who were owed the money? I am sure they will be very interested in the fact they were defrauded out of €30k.

gmisk

I dont have a clue tbh but I am sure it wouldnt be hard to find out. I have the address, id say they could find it out via that....

I am not sure it is worth the hassle, but I hate to see someone like this still operating in Dublin.

TheDriver

revenue could find this very interesting.........

TOMP

Call the Property Services Regulatory Authority. They regulate the industry. Tell them your story. See what they have to say.

CatFromHue

How would one even get 30K in cash?

Would the bank not be asking questions as to why you were taking such a large cash sum out of your account?

BookBook

Seems more common than you think - have a look at
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=92793756

My comment on that thread was -

BookBook wrote: »

I was asked the same thing recently by an estate agent. 10k for ‘fixtures, fittings and furniture’. Owners were in negative equity with kids and house was in disrepair. The bidding had gone up to x and I noticed a few months later the price on the property price register was actually 15k less that last x bidding price. I was surprised the EA was so open about it all.

I mentioned this to another EA to see their reaction and they didn't seemed surprised. They said that it happens as usually the owners need something to help them with removal costs and finding a place to live and get set up etc. So I assume this EA also arranges these deals.

salmocab

The actual seller is more likely to get in trouble, I would think, with revenue. Is it worth bringing a pile of sh1t on whats probably another working couple?

Caliden

salmocab wrote: »

The actual seller is more likely to get in trouble, I would think, with revenue. Is it worth bringing a pile of sh1t on whats probably another working couple?

If what the OP has posted is true and the sale went down like that, then it's tax evasion.

Everyone hates taxes but if nobody pays them you end up with a Greek situation. You've got empathy for these people and there's nothing wrong with that but these people have no moral compass and see nothing wrong with defrauding the state.

BookBook

While someone losing their home and needing some money to rent etc is one thing I wonder what’s in it for the Estate Agent? I can’t see them doing this without some financial incentive for themselves especially with a difference of 30k between real sale price and submitted sale price.

Another scenario I came across was a house for sale at 190k, offers went up to 240k. I later saw the price on PPR was 177k. I was talking to the EA later about this; it was a bank sale and vendor had withdrawn sale only to sell it to a foreign investor. EA was fuming as he was selling it on a no sale no fee basis.

ted1

salmocab wrote: »

The actual seller is more likely to get in trouble, I would think, with revenue. Is it worth bringing a pile of sh1t on whats probably another working couple?

We bailed out the bank, it's our money there conning us out of.

bringitdown

I was in a similar situation and ran a mile on the advice of my solicitor
- Party to fraud (you are 'assisting' the vendor in defrauding the bank)
- Party to tax evasion (by declaring a lower value, you will have lowered your stamp duty)
- You stand to loose on capital gains - should it happen - and your property appreciates your lower value now will cost you more in capital gains

Am sure there are more, have no idea why this is ever entertained, there is NO benefit to the buyer IMHO.

gmisk

bringitdown wrote: »

I was in a similar situation and ran a mile on the advice of my solicitor
- Party to fraud (you are 'assisting' the vendor in defrauding the bank)
- Party to tax evasion (by declaring a lower value, you will have lowered your stamp duty)
- You stand to loose on capital gains - should it happen - and your property appreciates your lower value now will cost you more in capital gains

Am sure there are more, have no idea why this is ever entertained, there is NO benefit to the buyer IMHO.

I am not sure if this was aimed at my post, the OP?
I had no intention of ever doing anything illegal, hence my 140 offer which was accepted (booking deposit paid), being a normal mortgage approved offer.
I never ended up buying the house but see that it was sold a few months later for 30k less that my offer....
(co-incidentally the amount exact amount EA said the owner would like in cash for a 110 declared figure!)

bringitdown

gmisk wrote: »

I am not sure if this was aimed at my post, the OP?

Nope! - just a general comment should others find themselves in this situation.