91Èȱ¬

Nicola Bee's home was specially built to meet her needs since she broke her neck aged 16 and had to learn to walk again.

It's in Dyffryn Nantlle, near Caernarfon, where her family are from and where her two daughters have grown up. She thought it would be her home for life, but earlier this year, serious financial problems meant she took the heartbreaking decision to sell it.

She turned to the internet to find a quick solution to her money worries. Nicola registered her details online, and a company called Quick Cash For Properties called back.

She agreed that a representative could visit. Nicola told X-Ray presenter Rachel Treadaway-Williams, "From the onset I thought that he was buying the property."

As she was signing a final document Nicola says she asked when money would be exchanged and the salesman explained he was not buying the property, but "merely marketing" it.

There were several documents to sign and Nicola struggled to take it all in. She felt she was rushed through the process and didn't fully understand the situation.

The salesman left without providing copies of anything Nicola had signed. She said: "I didn't know what the implications of what I'd signed. I was confused." The only document the salesman left was a Client Pack.

The first three pages detail the company's services and frequently asked questions. The following two are full of tips for viewings like putting fresh flowers out and using the smell of coffee to add to the sense of homeliness.

No prospective buyers came and, although Nicola chased the representative for copies of the paperwork she'd signed, she didn't receive them.

She found it confusing trying to figure out which company she was dealing with. In her correspondence with them, three names came up: Quick Property Sales (unconnected to the company - Quick Property Sale), Quick Cash for Properties Limited and Investor Net Management Services Limited.

Then Nicola was shocked to receive a letter from the Land Registry which said a unilateral notice had been entered on the title of her home by Investor Net Management Services.

In Nicola's case, the unilateral notice related to something called an "option to purchase".

Property lawyer Phillip Howell explained: "What it means for the home owner for the period in which that notice is registered, they wouldn't be free to sell the home to anybody else, and that's why it's so far reaching."

He advises if someone was interested in buying the house and they or their solicitor looked at the property title, they would immediately know there was someone ahead of them with the right to buy it, so wouldn't pursue the purchase until the owner got the notice removed.

In Nicola's Client Pack, it's claimed the option to buy gives INMS security when paying a client's fees.

But Phillip said he had never encountered an estate agent who had registered an option to purchase a property just to protect their fees, describing it as "a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

More than two months after signing up and with no potential buyers, Nicola contacted the rep who'd been to her home and said she wanted out.

She received a letter from Quick Property Sales confirming if she withdrew from the sale she would be liable for costs incurred. The next day, they sent her a bill for £2,869.25.

Nicola said: "I had sleepless nights, thinking am I going to lose my home because of this." The company acknowledged Nicola hadn't received any signed paperwork and in September, they finally sent one of the documents she'd signed back in July - a "Sales Agency Terms of Business".

Christopher Hamer, the Property Ombudsman for the UK who oversees companies like Quick Property Sales, explained that consumers have specific rights if they want to sell their property and sign up for such a service in their home.

He said: "If somebody is deciding to put their property on the market and they invite the agent to come round and make a market appraisal, and the agent produces the agency agreement to be signed whilst he's in their home then the vendor is covered by the Cancellation of Contracts Regulations which require the agent to offer a cooling off period, so a seven-day period in which that contract can be cancelled."

Christopher says if the contract doesn't have the cancellation notice in it, was issued after 1 October, 2008 and signed in your home or office with the agent visiting you, it is invalid.

X-Ray contacted Quick Property Sales and got a response from sister company Investor Net Management Services Limited.

The company told us they specialise in selling properties quickly and at below market value, and they say they made their service and terms clear to Nicola and that she was happy with them.

Regarding the cooling off period, they say Nicola should have a cooling off period and it says so in their terms and conditions. Nicola would have known this if she'd been left a copy.

They say the unilateral notice related to the option to buy was taken out so that if the property didn't sell, they could buy it and they have now agreed to remove that notice. Nicola has received a letter from the Land Registry confirming this has happened.

There is also good news for other customers. Because we contacted the company, they have reviewed their policies and are capping fees for customers who decide to cancel the services with them - up to a maximum of £250 plus vat, plus the cost of a 91Èȱ¬ Information Pack.

In response to why Nicola was not left any copies of what she had signed, they have told us that the agent who visited her was new to the job and should have left a copy of the terms and conditions.

They say they've now reviewed Nicola's case and realise some of their own policies weren't adhered to, so they won't be charging her any of the fees that they demanded.