Well since you make it sounds like that, it does sound scary!

I think I just want to be rid of the agents completely and will just market and sell the property myself using gumtree or eBay etc. Is there any reason why I need an agent?

Agreed, I did sign their terms and conditions but at the time of signing, there were no details of any property, fees, whether they would be acting as sole agency or any other information for that matter. in essence I agreed to nothing for nothing if that makes sense? So I don't understand how they could enforce anything apart from the fact that I signed for agreeing to nothing?

First of all many thanks again for giving me a few minutes of your time, it really is appreciated. So to be clear the estate agent hasn't sold my property yet. It is still for sale and whilst I have had offers from buyers which I have accepted, I have not actually sold the property, no exchange or completion. To be honest, I just don't want to deal with this agent in any shape or form as I have lost all trust and the situation is stressful. Can I not just inform them to stop marketing my property, tell them there is no agreement between us as it's a false document and then just go and find another agent or find a buyer myself. In parallel make a complaint to the relevant authorities.

Thanks for the advice, first time I'm selling a property...I've learnt a heck of a lot from this experience.. Am I right in assuming my contract with the agency is invalid... In my opinion, the agent has committed a crime under the fraud act, by lying about my driving licence details; broken the laws on the money laundering regulations and by signing a box to pass my details onto 3rd parties, broken some privacy laws. Not to mention violated the estate agents act and the property ombudsmans code of conduct. Given the stress the agency has caused me and how their behaviour has been I don't think I should pay them anything. Surely I am under no obligation too as our contract is a falsified document and therefore void?

Well they passed my details onto a conveyancer without my permission too by signing the box that agreed to pass my details on to them. The conveyancers seemed ok and I have so far been dealing with them. Do you think I should tell them I'm not going to go through them? What are the ramifications? Properly sale price is 52,000 fees is £2250 (which is discounted apparently just for me)

Thanks for the advice steampowered, really appreciate you reading my post and responding, When you say the other option is court, what would I have to do? Is this something I should tell the police?

Precisely, they are incorrect. What's funny is that the agent has tried to be really smart and make a "believable" driving licence number up, as in the license number starts with my surname but then goes horribly wrong with incorrect structure and digits.

Hi there, I hope someone can help me, I am just not sure what to do. To cut a long story short, I suffer from Multiple Sclerosis and have had to relocate hundreds of miles away from an apartment that I own. I decided to sell the apartment as I cannot reasonably undertake the stress of owning/renting a property so far away. So I spoke to some agents in the local area over the phone and one agent seemed very friendly and responsive. ( They are a national chain ). So after speaking with him for a short while via email, as I don't get chance to use the phone at work he agreed to market my property. He sent me some paperwork via email (PDF) documents of the agencies standard terms of business. I have attached the exact documents he sent me. [ATTACH=CONFIG]44065[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]44068[/ATTACH] Further to this, I asked if he needed me to complete all of these details just before marketing a property to see the response I would get ( the property market isn't great and I am in negative equity so didn't know what the response would be ) Anyway he said no and a signature on the document would be just fine for now ( over the phone to me ) so I placed a scanned copy of my signature on the document in the buyer's copy of the document. Leaving all the other details completely blank and then just emailed it back to him. I have attached what I returned t him. [ATTACH=CONFIG]44067[/ATTACH] A few months later, after pushing the agency on why i have had no interest on the property they drastically reduced the price and I ended up getting an offer for the apartment. So one day I decided to go and see the agent with a friend of mine ( a Dr. ). I spoke to him in the branch about the fact that we had never ever discussed any fees or agreement between us and yet he had already sold the property. At which point he advised me he had given me a discount on the standard fees and had applied a fixed fee of over £2000! ( that's over 4% of the property sale price). I then noticed on the computer in front of him that he had my documents up on the screen. So I asked him to show me the document I had signed months back and emailed to him. Upon him opening the file it was completely filled in!! All the following details Changing the date I signed the document to the same day he signed the document Completing the entire document including his fees Signing a box on the document on my behalf that I was happy to pass my details onto their "conveyancing partner" Indicating on the form the document was signed in his presence He also kindly filled in my personal details with a made up driving licence number, dates of birth etc stating that he had verified the original documentation Upon me reading this on his screen in disbelief I asked him if he had completed the document, he replied that he had. I also advised him that I have never seen this document since the day I emailed him the blank one back to which he agreed. I then asked him to print a copy for me so I could at least read it which he was hesitant to do so as I had to ask him on 2 occasions for the print out. I have since contacted the head office of the chain and have been communicating with a "customer relations" representative. She has after 4 weeks of "investigation" returned to me with a 4 page document that is full of false statements in regards to my dealings with them and advising that "I" must have had all of this information beforehand and that there was no underhand activity taken by the agent in the branch. Despite the fact that I have a print out of the forms that have false information all over them. I have communicated with the agency via email for the majority of the time and have all the emails and documents as evidence as well a witness to the fact that the agent admitted to completing the document himself. But I am in total disbelief that the national agency's head office have responded in this manner and just do not know how to proceed. As mentioned previously I suffer from Multiple Sclerosis and the situation really is having a detrimental impact on my welbeing as a consequence of the stress this is causing. If anybody can offer me some guidance or advice I would really appreciate it.

Hi there I am new to this forum and just wanted to say hello to you all I am an ex debt collector for barclays bank and I will try and advise people on here as and when i can I am now going to browse the forum and see what i find nice to meet you all