Seller Agreement

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING “AGREEMENT” CAREFULLY PRIOR TO USING OUR WEBSITE AND INSTRUCTING LAVELLE ESTATES, AS THESE “TERMS” AND “CONDITIONS” ARE LEGALLY BINDING AND APPLY TO ALL SELLERS.

This Agreement will provide information on the Products and Services that Lavelle Estates offers to Sellers and the terms and conditions that must be read, acknowledged and accepted prior to Instructing Lavelle Estates.

To agree to these terms and conditions, you must meet the following criteria:

• You MUST BE the beneficial owner of the property being sold or have the permission of the beneficial owner to sell the property;
• You MUST be able to provide personal identification, proof of address, and proof of ownership of the property; and
• You MUST NOT be an estate agent operating on behalf of the beneficial owner

If you meet the above criteria and would like to proceed with the use of our Products and Services, you must read and agree to these terms and conditions, our Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy, Terms of Use and any other terms mentioned therein.

These terms and conditions, together with the information you provide to us when registering to use our Products and Services form the basis on which you agree to appoint us, and we agree to act, as your estate agent to sell your property. Your signature will form a legally binding Agreement between you and us, and you will be bound by all its terms and conditions.

1. Definitions:

“Additional Fees” means any additional costs not covered by our standard Fees that you would incur by requesting any additional Products and Services.

“Administration Fee” or “Admin Fee” means the administration fee that you will be required to pay us if you’ve selected our Commission Fee package and decide to cancel this Agreement by withdraw your property from the market within our Sole Selling Rights Period.

“Advertisement” or “Advert” means the advertisement of your property that includes details and descriptions, photographs, measurements, floorplan, features, and the EPC that we will be using to market your property.

“AML ID Verification Checks” means the verification process that Lavelle Estates must comply with under the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulation, pertaining to your identity, property ownership and/or source of funds.

“Buyer(s)” means the purchaser of your property.

“Commission Fee” means the agreed percentage fee of the final sale price of your property that you agree to pay us at Completion.

“Completion” means the date of the completion of the sale of your property that has been agreed between you and the Buyer.

“Content” means all material, documents, photographs, information, or any other form of content that you provide to us or upload directly to our Website and Platform in relation to your property.

“Exchange” means the date that you and the Buyer formally exchange contracts for the sale of your property.

“Fees” means all Fees that you must pay for the Products and Services that you will be receiving upon Instructing Lavelle Estates. You may choose to pay either a Fixed Fee or a Commission Fee.

“Fixed Fee” means the fixed fee that is payable at the time you Instruct Lavelle Estates.

“Instruct” means Instructing Lavelle Estates to sell your property.

“Interruption” means any interruptions that may prevent Lavelle Estates from providing the necessary Products and Services that are offered through our Website or Platform, which may in certain circumstances also prevent you from accessing these services.

“Marketing Commencement Date” means the date that you have agreed for us to begin marketing your property for sale.

“Marketing Period” means the period of 12 consecutive months starting from the Marketing Commencement Date in which your property will be advertised by us.

“Platform” means the system that you will use by logging in to your User Account to access, review, and manage the Products and Services that are available to you.

“Privacy Policy” means the Privacy Policy set forth by Lavelle Estates that is available for you to read, review and acknowledge on our Website.

“Products and Services” means any Products and Services that are offered by Lavelle Estates.

“Property Visit” means having a Lavelle Estates agent visit your property to provide the selected Products and Services to you.

“Seller(s)” means the beneficial owner(s) of the property or the authorised representative(s) of the beneficial owner(s) that are Instructing Lavelle Estates. A reference to “you” or “your” refers to the Seller(s).

“Sole Selling Rights Period” means the period of 16-weeks from the Marketing Commencement Date where we have exclusive rights to sell your property.

“Terms of Use” means the terms and conditions set forth by Lavelle Estates for the use of our Website and Platform that is subject to change without notice and is available for you to read, review and acknowledge on our Website.

“User Account” or “Account” means the Account that you will register and have access to on our Platform that will be used to Instruct Lavelle Estates, utilise Products and Services and provide necessary information for the purpose of advertising and marketing your property.

“Valuation” means the price that our Lavelle Estates agent has recommended to you to market your property for, which is also outlined in our Valuation report.

“we”, “us” and “our” means Lavelle Properties Ltd (Trading as Lavelle Estates).

“Website” or “Site” means our Website: www.lavelleestates.co.uk owned and operated by Lavelle Properties Ltd.

2. Instructing Lavelle Estates:

By Instructing Lavelle Estates, you acknowledge that:

• You accept the use of our Products and Services as detailed on our Site and this Agreement;
• You have a legal right to Instruct Lavelle Estates, and that all rightful and legal owners and occupiers of the property have been informed, agree and consent to such authorisation and Instruction;
• You consent to an AML ID Verification Check as required by law and the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulation;
• You may not share your Account details, including your username and password, with any third party acting in a professional capacity (i.e., Estate Agents) to manage your Account and the sale of your property on your behalf; and
• You may not use your listing with us to gain interest in other properties not listed with us

3. Fees and Charges:

We offer two options that you can choose from based on your individual needs. The Products and Services offered by each option is outlined in Clause 4. You can choose between a Fixed Fee or a Commission Fee:

1. Fixed Fee: We will charge you a Fixed Fee of £389 (Inclusive of VAT) that must be paid at the time you Instruct Lavelle Estates.
2. Commission Fee: By selecting our Commission Fee, you pay £0 upfront but, you must acknowledge and agree to pay us a percentage of the sale price of your property agreed on Exchange. Commission Fees must be paid to Lavelle Estates within 7 days of the date of your Completion. It is your responsibility to instruct any solicitors involved in the sales transition to pay our fee within the specified time. If your account remains unpaid for more than 7 days from the Completion of the property, Lavelle Estates reserves the right to charge interest on the balance at a rate of 4% above the Barclays Bank PLC base rate. In the event that we need to use legal representatives or collection agents to recover the outstanding balance, you will be liable to pay all incurred costs relating to your late payment.

Should you request any additional services that fall outside of our standard Products and Services, we will determine the Additional Fees in accordance with reasonable industry practice and notify you of the amount prior to proceeding. Once you accept the Additional Fees, you will receive an invoice that will be payable within 14 days of the invoice issue date.

4. Products and Services:

We offer the following Products and Services based on your selected package:

Fixed Fee:

• Property valuation
• Area sales statistics and market trends
• Advertisement on our Website and property portals such as Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket etc., and/or any other sources we deem appropriate
• Professional photography
• Floorplan drawings
• 3D/Virtual tour of your property
• ‘For Sale’ marketing board
• Customer service support and regular reviews and updates
• Access to our Platform with tools to help you utilise our Products and Services such as, uploading your viewing availability schedule, managing viewings and offers, and uploading content
• Negotiation services are available upon request

Commission Fee:

Everything you get with our Fixed Fee package +

• Ultra-professional photography
• Management of the sales process from start to finish
• Organising and conducting viewings on your behalf
• Free premium listing on property portals
• Free Featured property listing on our Website and other property portals
• Free promotion and digital marketing including email campaigns
• Negotiation support

5. Payments:

1. Method of Payment: You can securely make a payment to us online and select your preferred method of payment through our service provider, PayPal.
2. Collection of Information: Since you are paying through PayPal, will not be asking for or collecting any payment information from you. If you want to learn more about how PayPal collects and processes your personal information, you can visit their website.

6. Sole Selling Rights (Liability to Pay Commission):

By Instructing Lavelle Estates, you thereby agree to appoint us as your sole selling agent to market and sell your property exclusively for a period of 16 weeks from the Marketing Commencement Date. By signing a sole selling rights agreement, you are liable to pay our Commission Fee in the following circumstances:

• If contracts for the sale of the property are Exchanged during our Sole Selling Rights Period, even if the Buyer was found by someone other than us, including but not limited to, you, another agent, or any other person
• If contracts for the sale of the property are Exchanged after the Sole Selling Rights Period has ended, between you and a Buyer that was introduced to you during our Sole Selling Rights Period (even if the Buyer was initially found by you, another agent, or any other person), or if negotiations were initiated between you and the Buyer for the property during the Sole Selling Rights Period.

Furthermore, you will still be liable to pay us a commission if the following occurs after you have cancelled your Agreement with us:

• If within 6 months of the end of this Agreement, a memorandum of sale is issued by another agent or a contract of the sale of the property is Exchanged, between you and a Buyer that we had introduced to you while the Agreement was valid
• If there is no agent involved and a contract for sale of the property is Exchanged, within 2 years of the end of this Agreement, between you and a Buyer that we had introduced to you while the Agreement was valid

Please note that a reference to the Exchange of contracts includes Completion of the sale of the property where no contract has been Exchanged.

Double Commission Warning:

You may be liable to pay us and other agents if:

• You had previously instructed another agent to sell your property on a sole agency, joint sole agency, multiple agency, or a sole selling rights basis; or
• You instruct another agent during or after our Sole Selling Rights Period

It is your responsibility to read all agreements carefully and ensure you understand its terms and conditions prior to instructing any agent.

7. Cancellation and Refund:

You have a right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 to cancel this Agreement, without giving reason, within 14 days of accepting and signing these terms and conditions. To exercise this right, you must inform us in writing via email or post to the addresses listed below within a timely manner to ensure you meet the cancellation deadline. If you are sending your notice by post, we must receive it within the 14-day ‘cooling off’ period, otherwise you will not be entitled to a refund.

If you have selected our Fixed Fee package and you give notice to cancel within the first 14 days of the date of this Agreement, you will be entitled to a full refund unless, we have provided any services to you during this period. In this case you will be entitled to a partial refund that will be determined at our discretion based on the services we have provided. We will refund any amounts owed to you without undue delay and to your original method of payment. Once the 14-day cooling off period has ended, you may withdraw your property from the market anytime during or after the Sole Selling Rights Period however, you will not be entitled to a refund.

If you have selected our Commission Fee package and you give notice to cancel within the 14-day cooling off period, you are not required to pay any fees unless, any Products and Services were provided that would require a payment. You will be issued an invoice for these services and are required to pay within 14 days of the invoice issue date. Furthermore, if you give notice to withdraw your property from the market within the Sole Selling Rights Period, there will be an Admin Fee of £750, plus any other outstanding Additional Fees. Nonetheless, if you cancel this Agreement any time after our Sole Selling Rights Period has ended, you are not required to pay us a commission unless we become aware of any of the circumstances covered by clause 6.

If you are requesting for your property to be withdrawn after the 14-day cooling off period, we require a minimum of 28 days’ notice in writing. Please submit your cancellation requests to any of the addresses listed in the contact section of this Agreement.

8. Advert Policy:

If any of the services you have selected require a Property Visit, we will assign one of our agents to visit your property on the date selected by you. During the Property Visit, the agent will view your property and collect all necessary information in order to prepare and provide you with a Valuation, floorplan drawing and a 3D tour for marketing purposes. The agent will also be photographing your property. It is your responsibility to ensure your property is presentable and ready to be photographed when the agent arrives. All photographs taken by our agents belong to us and will be protected under Copyright laws.

If you are providing Content to our Site you must ensure that all property details and descriptions, photographs, floorplan, measurements, Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), features, and any other supporting documents provided for the purpose of marketing are true, accurate, complete, and up to date. Furthermore, they must not be ambiguous or misleading in any way. If you do not comply with these terms, we reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to remove your Advert.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY

1. Photographs: Photographs provided by you will be used for marketing purposes only and must follow our photograph guidelines
• The photographs you upload must be owned by you
• If your property has been photographed by someone else (e.g., professional photographer) you must obtain their permission before you can upload them to our Site
• Any photographs uploaded will be reviewed by our team to ensure they adhere to the terms of our Agreement
• Any photograph that you upload must be representative of the property’s current condition
• You must not upload any photographs that contain logos or brand identifiers
• You must not upload any photographs that are inappropriate, obscene, offensive, hateful, discriminatory, unethical, immoral, inflammatory, or sexually explicit
2. Energy Performance Certificate (EPC): It is your responsibility to ensure that you have ordered an EPC prior to marketing your property as this is a legal requirement. An EPC contains information about a property’s energy usage by giving the property an efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (lease efficient) that is valid for 10 years. It also provides information about the potential costs and provides recommendations on how to reduce the energy use to save money. This information must be available on the Advert for potential Buyers to review. You can order an EPC from an accredited assessor. Alternatively, we can order the EPC for you for an additional cost.
• You are solely responsible for any Content that you create, upload and submit to our Site and Platform. Lavelle Estates does not guarantee, nor will it have any obligation or liability to you for any Content that becomes damaged or destroyed through the use of our systems.
• Any Content that you upload to our Site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By creating and posting Content on our Site, you give us consent for a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive, and transferrable license to reproduce, edit, alter, share, publish, advertise, and market the Contents on our Site, other forms of public networks and social media, and other property marketing platforms for the sole purpose that it is intended, and without any obligation for compensation to you.
• If any Content that you use and publish violates the terms of this Agreement or our Terms of Use, we will determine at our discretion, whether to temporarily or permanently withdraw your use of our Site or your ability to post Content on our Site. In certain cases, we will be obligated to share information with the appropriate authorities or to take legal action against you. Furthermore, Lavelle Estates reserves the right to disclose your identity to any third-party claiming violation of their privacy or intellectual property rights as a result of the Content that you have provided to us or posted on our Site. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with any claims made against us for an actual or alleged infringement of a third party’s intellectual property rights.

9. Marketing:

1. Marketing Sources: During the Marketing Period, we will be using multiple sources, at our discretion, in order to advertise and market your property to gather interest and find potential Buyers. The property portals that we use are subject to change or terminate at any time. We cannot guarantee continued presence on these websites as we do not have any control over them. Furthermore, we reserve the right to discontinue the use of any of these sources at any time.
2. Marketing Boards: Marketing boards will be used to identify that your property is for sale by us and to let potential buyers know where to find more information or book a viewing. Once we have been Instructed by you to sell your property, we will put up a ‘For Sale’ sign on your property in a location that will be visible to the public. These boards are the property of Lavelle Estates and you are responsible for ensuring that they are in a useable condition once your property has been sold or withdrawn from the market. A replacement fee will apply to any board that has been damaged or destroyed.

10. Viewings:

Safety is our number one priority when it comes to viewings. It is crucial that you notify us and provide all relevant information relating to health and safety, and to ensure that appropriate measures are in place in order to manage and minimize any risks.

Depending on the fee option that you have selected, you will either be arranging and conducting your own viewings, or we will be doing them on your behalf.

Arranging Viewings:

If you are conducting your own viewings, you can enter your viewing availability schedule through your Account on our Platform which will then be shared with those that are interested in viewing your property. Should an alternative date and time be selected by the interested party, you will be notified and are responsible to confirm or deny the viewing as soon as the request is received.

Viewings arranged by us will also be available to view on the Platform along with the person’s name, the date and the time of the viewing.

Should our system be Interrupted in any way, we will maintain contact with the interested party and arrange for viewings. We will communicate the person’s information to you in a timely manner so you can prepare for the viewing.

Conducting Viewings:

If we are conducting viewings on your behalf, you are still responsible to ensure the property is in a sanitary and safe condition and ready for viewings and walk-arounds. Furthermore, you will need to give us access to the property on the date and at the time of the viewing that has been communicated to you. This will require you to provide us with clearly labelled keys to all lockable doors, windows, garages or any other locked parts of the property that we will need access to during the viewing.

If you are conducting your own viewings, you are to maintain the same level of professionalism to ensure the safety of those entering your property.

Please note, if the property for sale is empty or unoccupied, it is your responsibility to conduct regular visits to check and ensure that the property is secured, mains services are turned off, water and heating systems are professionally drained and appropriate insurance coverage is in place. You will be responsible for all maintenance at the property as we will not accept any liability for it during the term of this Agreement.

11. Offers:

Upon receiving an offer from a prospective Buyer for your property, we will notify you within 24 hours and give you the opportunity to review, accept, deny, or negotiate the offer. If you choose to have us negotiate on your behalf, you can let us know. All negotiations done on your behalf will be conducted in a professional manner and in your best interest.

If an offer has been made to you directly, you need to give us notice before accepting. Lavelle Estates is required to conduct AML ID Verification Checks all Buyers and to verify the source of funds before proceeding with any sales transaction in order to comply with Anti-Money Laundering Regulations.

In the event that you become aware of anyone affiliated to us (e.g., employee or family member) showing personal interest in your property, please let us know immediately. We are not aware of any personal interest existing between us or anyone connected to us. However, if we become aware of such personal interests or offers, we will notify you. You will have full discretion as to whether or not you would like to interact with the interested party.

12. Third Party Services:

Upon request, we will introduce you to third party service providers such as mortgage advisors, surveyors, conveyancing solicitors, moving companies etc. It is entirely up to you to seek the advice and request products and services from these third-party services providers. However, please be aware that should you choose to take advantage of such services, we may earn a commission or referral fee as a result of the introduction.

13. Personal Information and Data Protection:

At Lavelle Estates, we always aim to provide the best customer service. This means that at times, we may need to collect certain personal information from you. By signing this Agreement, you are consenting to the collection and use of certain personal information such as your name, contact details and any other necessary information for the purpose of providing Products and Services to you, account registrations, and for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. We take measures to comply with the rules of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by protecting your privacy.

Please visit our Privacy Policy for more information on how and why your personal data is processed.

14. Money Laundering:

Like all Estate Agents in the UK, Lavelle Estates is subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. To comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations, we will need to collect and retain identification and proof of address from both the Seller and the Buyer. Additionally, we may need to obtain proof of ownership of the property from the Seller and verify the source of funds of the Buyer. For this reason, we may need to disclose your information to third party providers such as, credit reference agencies and the Land Registry to carry out these checks. We are also required by law to disclose all information to authorities, without prior notification or liability to you, if we have reasonable suspicion that you are involved in money laundering or terrorist financing. Moreover, we would need to verify all beneficial owners, especially if the transaction is taking place on their behalf. The processing of personal data is in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and it is lawful and necessary for the prevention of money laundering or terrorist financing and for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

By agreeing to the terms of this agreement, you acknowledge and give consent to Lavelle Estates to carry out these checks which includes obtaining, copying, and verifying acceptable personal photo identification or documentation. If we are unable to verify either party’s identity, we will not proceed with the transaction. We therefore request that you provide accurate and up to date information and to notify us of any changes immediately. Any information you provide will be governed by our Privacy Policy. Please visit our Privacy Policy for more information on how and why your personal data is processed.

A list of acceptable identity documents will be provided to you with this Agreement. Alternatively, you can find the list on our Website.

15. Disclaimer and Liability:

Lavelle Estates does not exclude or limit any liability that would be deemed unlawful such as, liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence and fraud or fraud misrepresentation. Nonetheless, to the extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of or in connection with these terms and your use of our Site, Products and Services, whether in tort (including negligence), breach of contract, breach of statutory duty or otherwise, even if foreseeable.

You may use our Site and Platform at your own discretion and risk without any warranties, guarantees or representations, either expressed or implied from us. You must agree that Lavelle Estates, its shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents or affiliates, will not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage as a result of you (or anyone having access to your account) using our Site, your inability to use our Site, your use or reliance on any content displayed on our Site, or your use or access of any external links and their contents.

Our Site, including all of its content, are provided on an ‘as is’ and ‘as available’ basis. We do not give any warranties, guarantees or representations either expressed or implied that any information uploaded on our Site is correct, accurate or up to date. We accept no responsibility, nor do we give any warranties, guarantees, or representations that our Site will be free from Interruptions, intrusions, errors or any other circumstances beyond our reasonable control (e.g., technical difficulties or viruses). Therefore, we will not be liable for any loss or damage arising as a result of such circumstances and your use of our Site, Platform, Products and Services. At times our Site may be unavailable with or without notice in order for us to carry out maintenance work.

Lavelle Estates reserves the right to cancel this Agreement at any time by giving a 7 days’ written notice to anyone that is in breach of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

We may need to amend this Agreement, not including the Fees that you have agreed to, from time to time and without notice. These amendments will be made and posted to our Website. It is your responsibility to check our Seller Agreement page periodically for these updates and to review the changes. Your continued use of our Site, Products and Services will constitute your acknowledgement and acceptance of the new terms.

Indemnity:

You agree to indemnify us and hold Lavelle Estates, its shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents or affiliates harmless from any and all claims, losses and damages, direct costs, expenses or any liabilities incurred or imposed on us arising from your failure to comply with your obligations under this Agreement.

Force Majeure:

Neither you nor Lavelle Estates shall be responsible or liable for any failure or delay in the performance under this Agreement arising out of or caused, directly or indirectly, by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

Laws & Regulations:

Lavelle Estates is responsible for complying with the terms of the Estate Agents Act 1979 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. This means that we can be held criminally responsible for making any incomplete, inaccurate or misleading statements or giving wrong impressions about a property. Since we rely on you to provide this information to us about your property, you must acknowledge and agree that:

• you must take responsibility for providing true, accurate, complete and up to date information to us about your property
• you must inform us immediately of any inaccurate, misleading or missing information, photographs, floorplan etc., that would need to be updated on our systems
• you will be held liable for any loss or damage arising as a result of the incomplete, incorrect or misleading information that has been made available about your property

Lavelle Estates reserve the right not to publish any information that you provide to us about your property.

16. Contacting us:

If you need to contact us for any reason, you may do so via e-mail or by post to the following addresses:

E-mail:

info@lavelleestates.co.uk

or

Post:

Lavelle Properties Ltd

(Trading as Lavelle Estates)

Suite 4

3rd Floor

Castle Chambers

34 Castle Street

Liverpool

L2 0NR