New draft guidance has been published by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team advising agents on how to comply with Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008.
It advises agents that should a customer “provide you with information you know, or should reasonably have known, to be inaccurate you should inform your customer that the information is inaccurate and ask them to clarify their position as you may breach the CPRs”.
The draft guidance also defines a “transactional decision” as being not simply a consumer’s decision as to whether to use an agent’s services or to buy a property. “It could, for example, be a client’s decision to accept an offer, or a buyer’s decision to enquire about a property, commission a survey or instruct a conveyancer”.
However, it also adds that at the outset of the marketing process, “you are not expected to research issues that are outside your line of businesss”. For example, these might be issues that a conveyancer or surveyor would investigate.
However, if an agent has been “put on notice” about such information, or becomes aware of it, “you cannot ignore or suppress it” and the information should be disclosed immediately.
Matters which could have an impact on a possible buyer’s decision and which should be “provided as early in the marketing process as possible and not left until a potential buyer expresses an interest in a property” include potential nearby development.
The draft guidance is here
Comments (8)
My comment was NOT intended to offend agents but we all know only to well that the need to disclose “issues” is a bit of a nightmare and some staff just can’t get their heads around it. Most issues of concern are negative which frankly seen as putting buyers off, poor survey is a case in point and I often see some (not all) agents duck and dive over them.
Well said Woodentop.
The guidance is a good reference to property sales in line with CPRs and BPRs. Also many agents whine about rogue agents. If guidance is understood, good agents could bring bad property traders to the attention of Trading Standards.
Quote: Matters which could have an impact on a possible buyer’s decision and which should be “provided as early in the marketing process as possible and not left until a potential buyer expresses an interest in a property”.
Looks good but I have every reason to doubt a very high percentage of estate agents staff do not follow this guidance and will even go so far as to say many do not know their obligations and line managers turn a blind eye for fear of putting a buyer off, while those agents that are street wise will tackle issues head-on and still get the sale.
Oh yes we do, because we have to. There may be a few that don’t but almost every agent I have ever met is well aware of the CPR and their implications.
@ Newsboy. Less agents than you’d imagine are aware of CPRs and BPRs.
Only a handful actually read through guidance in depth. Or if they do, they must have very short memory spans as most agents can’t tell you on the whole what’s in guidance and the same goes for AML proceedures.
Newsboy – your in the minority. …
The conscientious agent does a grand job, but I see more who seem to not know or look the other way. I had a very interesting discussion (argument!!) with a big corporate branch manager over a joint agency sale which had “issues”. We were up front, while they failed miserably. I see so many agents adverts that breach CPR’s, it makes me wonder if they know very little about obligations or just don’t give a damn.
I think in many cases it’s unintentional ignorance or unknown guidance to many.
Some agents still show the 1991 Property Misdescription Act as being part of their disclaimer which went long ago (although is referred to in past tense in the new Property Sales Guidance.