ESTATE AGENTS FEES

The term “Estate Agent” seems to conjure up various emotions in people, ranging from annoyance, anger, disgust, fear, amusement and suspicion. None good, I must add that this is not peculiar to Nigerian Estate Agents alone, but Agents around the world. The sad reality is that many so called Agents in Nigeria are mere cowboys and opportunists out to make a quick buck! The reason they succeed in getting away with this is the clients who use them so they can pay minimal fees and cut corners. The problem with this is that anyone willing to accept mediocrity will ultimately pay for it in other ways and that is usually by meeting a 419 Agent, getting a bad service or a worst case scenario, the Agent disappears with their money. Because this happens so often, most Estate Agents are often viewed with suspicion before they have even started their work.

 During the week I was approached by someone who claimed he had been cheated by an Estate Agent. The Agent had collected the rent on the landlords’ behalf and disappeared with the money! When I enquired from him where he had gotten the Agent from, he said the Agent had approached him and told him that he did not have to pay any fees, as this would be collected from the tenants, so the landlord gave him permission to let the property, without any checks. The 419 Agent proceeded to collect three sets of rent for the one property and promptly evaporated into thin air. The name he gave the landlord was different from what he gave to the tenants, all fake. No one had an accurate description of him, no address and the phone was turned off and not traceable!  Whilst I sympathise with the landlord, I am fairly certain that he was trying to save money by not using a legitimate Estate Agents service, which would entail paying fees. The saying “you pay for what you get” rings very true here.

 Another fee paying incident that occurred recently was in a Lease renewal case. The Agent who had originally placed the tenant three years ago on behalf of the landlord who resides abroad, had been contacted by the landlord to renew for another two years on his behalf. The rent on the property had gone up substantially in the three years, so the landlord of course wanted market rent which the tenant did not want to pay. A tug of war ensued between the tenant and landlord of whom the agent was the mediator and negotiator. After a month of negotiating and sending emails, telephone calls etc, an acceptable amount was agreed by both parties. The Agent sent a formal letter to both parties to confirm the amounts and his fees. The landlord despite the one appointing the Agent to manage the property point blank refused to pay fees, saying it should be the tenant’s responsibility. The tenant point blank refusing saying the first set of fees three years previously should cover the management forever?

My advice would be that legitimate Estate Agents must cover themselves by stating in their formal letters of contract/offer, how much their fees are, the period in question and for what specifically. Where an Agent is appointed by the landlord, the landlord should pay his fees. Where an Agent is appointed by a tenant, the tenant should pay the fees, both initial and renewal. This is clear and simple and stated in the Lagos State Tenancy Law. Yet still we get so much confusion over fee payments and amounts.The unfortunate truth is that no formal training has been given to most Agents