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:
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.
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.
Is anyone with experience/knowledge in these matters able to advise?
Many Thanks.
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