A warning has been sent to every estate agent in Ipswich warning them to be on their guard following a ‘dirty tricks’ incident over HIPs.
The email has been sent by Jonathan Waters estate agents which says that a competitor in the town colluded with a vendor to try and get their hands on the HIP.
Jonathan Waters said: “The vendor was targeted to change agents on the basis that she would get a free HIP and would not have to pay to get the HIP that she had through us moved.
“She was coming to the very end of her sole agency contract with us, when first we had a request from someone posing as a possible purchaser to see the HIP before viewing.
“When this approach was unsuccessful, we had a ‘viewing’ booked by someone else.
“Following the viewing – which the vendor initially told us had taken place – we received an offer. The purchaser was even vetted by our financial services department and we then forwarded the offer to the seller.
“At this stage, just as we were about to forward the HIP to the ‘purchaser’, the vendor got cold feet, and told us she had been asked to play along with it. It turned out that the viewing had never taken place.”
Waters added: “No doubt the vendor had been told she would save £350 or even more, but it seems extraordinary the lengths some agents will go to in order to get business. I have known all kinds of tactics before, but nothing like this, and I would be interested to know if it goes on in other towns.”
A spokesman for the agents named by Waters told Estate Agent Today: “It all sounds a bit far-fetched to me, but I will investigate.”
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Comments
now just why do the public hate estate agents????
If you "fee" shared like every other successful real estate industry then you wouldnt have these problems - no qualifications? no fee sharing on multi listings? low sole agency fee levels and you let Tesc*s in thru the back door - just how stupid is the estate agency "profession"?
The HIP belongs to whoever has paid for it. If the current agent paid for it and the vendor wanted to change, they could either buy a copy from their agent or have a new one done. It sounds to me like the new agents were trying to get a copy for free from the ladies current agent and then coax her over to them by saying they will do it for her for free, when really all they had done is technically steal a copy of it.
Jonathan Waters are admitting to their own stupidity here - they are in the wrong for not releasing information that should be available on demand.
is this another example of an agent using hips to restrict competition. In the old days if a vendor wanted to change agents they could. Weak agent use the hip to tie up clients...look at connells for a good example,,offer £99 quid hips and charge £600 to get rid of them,,cheers labour,,who do you actually help??
It would seem that the business experience of Jonathan Waters regarding estate agency practises leaves a little to be desired. I would suggest some training.
Seems like a convoluted way to go about getting a HIP replacement...
Further evidence that it takes two to tango. The OFT should also be looking at vendor practices
Guy's aren't you missing the point here,it surely shouldn't be that difficult to smell a rat,how many of us have any member of the public asking to see a HIP!
Waters should have sussed straight away but rules are rules and without suspicion they should have released the hip to that person.
I agree with most the other comments here. This story is making EAT and the first agent look a bit foolish. Perhaps things haven't been explained that well in the story, but in that case, perhaps EAT and Waters would comment to clarify to us all that they are not actually clueless.
Is this really the biggest story of the day, is EAT running out of editorial ideas ????
It was my understanding that you only have to provide a copy of the HIP to someone who is has a legitimate interest in purchasing the property and i don't think it's an offence not to provide one to someone who hasn't even booked a viewing. Nevertheless the vendor should get a copy anyway if they ask for it and surely it makes no difference if a new agent has the HIP prior to being instructed or not, if there is one in place then it shouldn't be witheld for the sake of delaying a new instruction. I haven't even heard of having to pay to move your HIP if you instruct a new agent! Maybe it's a southern thing? This article isn't doing Waters any favours!
Waters are assuming their client is stupid and thinks it costs £350 for a HIP? I presume this is what they charge
The HIP belongs to whoever has paid for it. If the current agent paid for it and the vendor wanted to change, they could either buy a copy from their agent or have a new one done. It sounds to me like the new agents were trying to get a copy for free from the ladies current agent and then coax her over to them by saying they will do it for her for free, when really all they had done is technically steal a copy of it.
For starters the agent should have given access to the HIP at the first request. If the home owner paid directly for the HIP she owns it so could have taken it anywhere. Finally if the owner moved agents with no break in the marketing then the HIP she had done previously is still valid and wouldnt need a new HIP anyway.
Thats right the agent should be prosecuted for failure to allow viewing of a hip. If then they were owed a fee from the vendor they have to obtain that at a later point. One must think the seller cannot have been happy with agent 1 in the first place or wouldn't have been interested in changing
This doesn't really make any sense. Of course you can copy a HIP if you want, doesn't mean you own the rights to it!! It's like suggesting that in some way you have a right to photocopy a library book.. hardly the controversy of the century.
I won't be voting Labour for sure. Good riddance to the HIP. Time wasted preparing it, and time wasted agents playing cloak and dagger. Crazy times were in.
Surely the HIP is the property of the homeowner. If Waters did not get them to pay for it that is their risk. Looks like a marketing ploy by them not properly thought though.
what reason did they give not to provide the hip when requested by a potential purchaser - it should be freely available