ST : Property agent loses 'commission' suit

15 JAN 2011,
Property agent loses 'commission' suit

A PROPERTY agent who sued a buyer for $437,870 that she said he owed her as a commission has had her claim dismissed by the High Court.

Ms Agnes Foo helped Mr Ho Kiau Seng buy 11 apartments for $37 million in all. She claimed he agreed to pay her $437,870 for helping him get a 'good price'.

Mr Ho, 65, argued that although he had verbally agreed to pay her a commission, he had done so on the condition that she would resell the flats for him. This did not happen.

He had also been under the impression that she would get a commission from the seller.

Justice Lee Seiu Kin threw out Ms Foo's claim earlier this week. He also ordered her to hand back the $165,956 that Mr Ho had given her for her expenses.

The judge noted that it was 'unusual' for a housing agent to collect a commission from the buyer when she was expected to get her due from the seller.

Ms Foo was helping to market a housing project in Buckley Road near Newton in 2007 when she met Mr Ho, the managing director of steel products firm Leong Jin Corporation.

Three months later, he signed a deal to buy 11 units at the project, in his personal capacity.

He then made two payouts to Ms Foo over a period of nine months, for a total of $165,956.

They had different explanations for the payments. Ms Foo claimed they were partial payments of her commission. Mr Ho said they were advances for her expenses, made at her request.

Ms Foo, defended by lawyer John Tan, claimed that Mr Ho had agreed to pay a sum equivalent to 30 per cent of the savings she had obtained for him. This worked out to $437,870.

Mr Ho, defended by lawyers Hee Theng Fong and Sim Mei Ling from KhattarWong, denied making any such agreement.

Justice Lee said in his grounds of judgment that although Mr Ho had agreed to pay a commission to Ms Foo, the sums were not agreed upon until after the option to buy had been clinched.

There was no formula