Lawsuit against a French real estate agent due to high prices

Estate agents are obliged to give realistic valuations of properties and should be able to justify the prices they recommend. If the valuation from the agent was too high, you can claim a refund. The courts say that agents must be able to justify their price based on the prices of similar properties sold at the time the valuation was given.

A recent case in Normandy provides an extreme example. A married couple approached an agency in 2012 to sell their home and move to a smaller one. The agency estimated that the house would sell for €400,000, and based on this price, the couple listed their home for sale and bought another, smaller one from the same agency for €309,000.

In another case, the agency was forced to pay €2,000 as compensation for "disappointment" after a house, which they had valued at €450,000 in 2006, was sold for only €260,300 in 2008.