Key topics - Dual fees and poor service
Award
Fee to be split equally between both agents
What happened?
The complainant said:
- they instructed agent one to sell the property under a sole selling agreement, but due to service issues, they ended their agreement with agent one
- they then instructed agent two to sell the property, under a sole selling agreement
- a prospective buyer viewed the property through agent two, after previously viewing through agent one, and then made an offer through agent two, which was accepted
- the property sale completed and agent one is now claiming they are entitled to a fee on the sale
The agent (one) responded, saying:
- the buyer originally viewed the property through them
- their contract with the complainant confirms they are entitled to their commission if they introduced the property to the buyer
What evidence was provided?
Communication, contracts, system notes including viewing lists
What was decided and why?
The prospective buyer:
- viewed the property through agent one and the evidence of their communication showed the buyer was clearly very interested
- contacted agent two five days later to arrange a second viewing, which led to an offer being made
- Due to the proximity between their original viewing with agent one and the offer made through agent two, it was found that agent one did introduce the buyer to the purchase of the property, as nothing happened in between this time which frustrated the process or interrupted the timeline, such as another offer being accepted by the seller.
However, agent one was not entitled to the full fee, due to the level of service they provided to the seller, because:
- they had poor record keeping
- they did not communicate properly with the seller
- they did not provide the seller with feedback from viewings
- when the contract ended, agent one did not highlight the possibility of dual fees to the seller
How can you avoid this happening in future?
- An agent must show they introduced a buyer to the purchase of the property AND show they followed industry best practice, to be entitled to their full commission fee
- Agents are expected to communicate properly with their consumers and provide all material information they need to make informed decisions
- Agents are expected to make sure they maintain good record keeping and understand that if there is any disagreement, these records will be needed to support their position
Read our ‘Dual fee guide to decision making’, which explains how we review dual fee cases and the issues we consider when investigating a complaint. Each complaint is considered on a case-by-case basis and a decision does not set precedent.
