Cases - McInnes v Clarke

Record details

Name

McInnes v Clarke

Date

[1955]

Citation

1 AII ER 346

Legislation

Accommodation Agencies Act 1953

Keywords

Estate agency - Accommodation Agencies Act 1953

Summary

Any tenant seeking accommodation from the appellant agent would be asked what rent he was willing to pay. He would then be told that the agent's commission for finding accommodation would be equal to one week's rent, and that half was payable now, as a deposit, and the other half due when accommodation was found. He would then be supplied with a list of addresses. In the event of no accommodation being found, the deposit was returned in full. The agent claimed that he was not in breach of the Accommodation Agencies Act 1953 because, looked at as a whole, he received commission only for finding accommodation, and received nothing if he provided a list of addresses which turned out to be useless. The divisional court held that, as it was the case that no list would be provided unless the deposit was paid, the agent had accepted payment in consideration of supplying addresses. The fact that the deposit was returned was not material.