26th
Feb 2016
Last year it was reported that a landlord client of the lettings arm of an estate agent company, brought an action against them for ridiculous commission charges for the most menial of tasks. The company has now just received a ‘letter of claim’ stating that they must start discussions with 55 landlords over their charges and fees, or face High Court proceedings.
The landlord who started this all off last year, Dr. Chris Townley, launched a legal claim against the company for charging for commissions that were not covered in his contract. The landlord’s solicitor supporting Dr Townley in seeking £14,000 compensation for “inflated costs for work” during the two and a half years that the company had managed the property on his behalf. One of the ridiculous charges was £616 for changing a light bulb.
The Daily Mail ran a headline that included: “How many Foxton’s agents does it take to change a light bulb?”
Because of the extensive media coverage, another 54 landlords have bandied together and are in total claiming £2.19 million from the beleaguered company. The claims start at £4,000 with the highest of £200,000.
Dr. Townley’s solicitors are acting on behalf of the landlords and have threatened High Court Action unless the company starts meaningful discussions leading to settlements.
The company has spoken to the London Evening Standard saying that the landlords’ claims are without substance: “We believe our fees represent good value and are clearly communicated to landlords and detailed within the terms of each contract. This case reflects a small minority of landlords and we believe is entirely without merit.”
Chris Haan, from the consumer team of the solicitors, said: “We were not surprised when many other landlords came forwards with similar claims to that of Dr Townley. This is the first group of claims to be put to Foxtons but we believe there will be many more. We consider Foxtons has a potential conflict of interest in that the more expensive the contractor is, the more Foxtons makes in commissions.”
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