Case Update - Foxtons to appeal against Unfair Terms decision (January 2010)

For those who have been following the saga of Foxtons' clauses in its contracts with landlords relating to commission being charged being held to be unfair, Foxtons has now belatedly obtained permission to appeal. This move by Foxtons follows the recent Supreme Court decision in favour of the banks' overdraft charges. In that case, the Court ruled that the Office of Fair Trading had no right to look into bank charges. Foxtons will still, however, also have to overturn the decision that its terms were not written in plain and intelligible language and were not negotiable.

Foxtons has said that it will not be appealing the decision against the terms requiring landlords to pay commission to Foxtons after the property has been sold either to the tenant or to another landlord who continues with the letting to the tenant.

For landlords who were contemplating bringing actions against Foxtons or other letting agents to recover commission, they may prefer either to press on now before the appeal hearing might change the position or to wait until the outcome of the appeal.

To read our article concerning the Foxtons ruling, please click here.

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