Selling property to tenant - letting agency commission?

[AlfieJay]

T has made a decent offer to buy my property near the end of our rental agreement that I'm taking very seriously.

However, I'm worried about a clause in my agreement with the letting agency stating they are entitled to a 2% commission in the case that I sell to T, as this comes to a considerable amount - nearly £20,000.

T is very ammenable to not making this transaction obvious to the letting agency, so I'm not sure that they would pick up on this through land registry records/procedures anyway, but I've also heard that such clauses stand on very dubious legal grounds as the letting agency has had nothing to do with negotiating the sale of the property whatsoever.

For example, very recently the High Court ruled against Foxtons in a similar case with the judge stating:

The judge said landlords would be "astonished" to find they had to pay Foxtons commission for the sale of a property, even if the agency had played no part in the deal.

more details here - http://www.wbo-property.com/index.ph...arket&Itemid=4

Is anyone with experience/knowledge in these matters able to advise?

Many Thanks.

[PaulF]

A prominent firm of specilist Housing Law solicitors has always maintained that any such clause is unenforceable as the 'earning event' has to be clearly defined and therefore almost certainly wouldn't comply with the wording as per the Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991, under S.18 of the Estate Agents Act 1979.

You might have to make a legal challenge but don't be put off by fighting your corner.

[susanne]

i have always simply crossed out and signed alongside this clause in any agreement i have signed with a letting agent - its outrageous that they think they can get money for sweet fanny adams ..... i always tell them that they will have been paid for the srvice of finding a tenant and will have no input into the sales process so why do they think they are entitled to payment ?

let them take you to court for the money and see how a judge regards this nonsense