Gran alleges sin of commission
Re/Max agent takes R92,000 cut - even though seller pulled out
Recently widowed Mirinda Ellis was devastated to learn that her purchase of a house on Durban's Bluff had fallen through because the seller had a change of heart and pulled out of the deal. But worse was to come - she emerged from the collapsed deal R92,000 poorer because she was made to pay the estate agent's commission anyway. She had paid the full purchase price of R950000, which was the bulk of her inheritance from her husband who died in April last year, to the conveyancing attorneys, to be held in trust pending registration of transfer. After the seller's sudden, last-minute cancellation, Ellis expected to be refunded in full, and when she queried why her refund was R92055 short, the conveyancers, McNaught & Co, told her that the money had been paid to the estate agents, Re/Max Advance Bluff, as sales commission. On its website, Re/Max lays claim to being South Africa's largest real estate company, saying it is "almost twice as large as our nearest competitor". Conveyancing at...
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