Auctioneer awarded fees for house he did not sell

A TUAM-based auctioneer was awarded over €3,000 for a house he didn't sell â€â€ although he successfully argued that he had negotiated a sale for the property that he was commissioned to dispose of. [private] Auctioneer John Joyce sued two property developers who had suffered from the effects of the downturn in the economy. Tuam District Court was told that they built three houses at Brooklodge Demesne, Ballyglunin and while one of the houses sold for €345,000 during the height of the boom, the house that was the subject of this civil action had an offer of €155,500. John Joyce told the Court that this offer was accepted by property developers Thomas Hynes and Shane Crisham but this was challenged by the defendants who said that the house was sold by a rival auctioneer, Ronan Long, for €160,000. The Court was told that at the end of March 2010, they entered into a six-month agreement with John Joyce that he would be the sole agent for the property. Joyce found a buyer for the property the following October and informed Thomas Hynes of the offer. Joyce said that he received a text back from Mr Hynes accepting the offer and thanking him for his efforts. The auctioneer said that he then received a subsequent text informing him that Shane Crisham was not happy with the price for the house and that a better offer had come in. Joyce said that he had fulfilled his duties although he did admit that his sale advice notice was issued just days after the six-month arrangement between him and the defendants had expired. He said that he was waiting on the purchaser to ensure that she had her finances in order. After hearing the case Judge Geoffrey Browne ruled that there had been a valid contract between Joyce and the two defendants, despite the sale advice notice being issued a couple of days after the arrangement expired, and awarded the auctioneer with a decree of €3,010 for his fees for negotiating the sale of the property along with his legal costs. John Joyce told the Court that he was asked to sell one of the three houses in the development and that it was in the agreement that he would be the sole agent for the property. He told his solicitor Tom O'Donoghue that he was also asked to sell the third property in the small estate if he had an interested party. The auctioneer explained that the sellers wanted €220,000 for the house but he thought that this was more than they would achieve and advised them to reduce their asking price. He said that the house needed about €40,000 worth of work and he was anxious to ensure that the purchaser had her finances in place before accepting a deposit on the property and that this accounted for the delay in issuing the sale advice notice to the sellers. He told the Court that after he got a text from Thomas Hynes accepting the offer of €155,500, he received a subsequent text from the defendant telling them that Shane Crisham had rejected this offer and had obtained a higher one. Thomas Hynes, in evidence, said that he along with Shane Crisham had built three houses and had sold one of them. They were selling houses number one and three and had engaged 'a few auctioneers' to do this on their behalf. He said that they had engaged John Joyce to be their sole agent for six months from the end of March 2010 to the end of September. He said that Joyce had come up with an offer but denied that he had accepted this as he had to consult with his partner in the development. In the meantime auctioneer Ronan Long had come up with a higher offer and they accepted this. 'I asked John Joyce to try and sell house number three and he told me where to put it,' he told the Court. He said that Ronan Long had been engaged to sell the house before John Joyce. He also said that the money from the sale went to the banks and that they had paid the successful auctioneer his fees. Auctioneer Ronan Long said that he had taken instructions from Shane Crisham in June 2009 to sell both number one and number three by private treaty. He said that the woman who had paid a deposit to Mr Joyce had also contacted him about the houses. He said that he had advertised the property and in September 2010 he received a call from an interested party who was willing to pay €160,000 and took a deposit from this person on the instruction of the sellers. The property was then sold for this price. Shane Crisham said that he had no dealings with John Joyce and was not aware of the offer he had. He said that they tried several auctioneers in an effort to sell the properties. However, Judge Browne ruled in favour of John Joyce, saying that there was a valid contract in place, and awarded him his fees. [/private]