Cases - Hoddell v Smith

Record details

Name

Hoddell v Smith

Date

[1976]

Citation

2 EGLR 38

Keywords

Estate agency - commission

Summary

The plaintiffs claimed scale fees for 'negotiating a sale by private contract'. (Another agent had introduced the buyer.) It was held by the Court of Appeal that advising the client on values and tactics is not negotiating.

'Negotiation must, to my mind, mean conferring with the prospective purchaser, or his representatives, with a view to agreeing a sale.' (Lord Justice Geoffrey Lane)

On the evidence, the agent had not negotiated a sale. The only communication with the purchasers or their representatives comprised letters, which did no more than pass on information from the client, and a meeting at which the agent played a very small part, if any part at all.