Case Summary:

Title:  Brutton v Alfred Savill, Curtis & Henson (1971)

Held: Agent is responsible for taking due checks before putting tenant in property.  Agent was negligent in allowing prospective tenant to take possession without payment of a deposit of rent in advance.

In Brutton v Alfred Savill, Curtis & Henson,(1971), an office junior employed by the agents allowed a prospective tenant to take possession of premises without payment of a deposit or any rent in advance because he said that he had forgotten his cheque book.  The tenant subsequently defaulted on rent payments and legal proceedings were required to regain possession.  The landlady lost some £770 in unpaid rent and the cost of legal proceedings.  It was held that, since the normal worldly estate agent would not have been taken in by this simple confidence trick, the young employee's gullibility amounted to negligence, and the defendants were therefore liable to their client for this loss.

Citation:  Brutton v Alfred Savill, Curtis & Henson (1971) 218 Estates Gazette 1417