Latest News from The Property Ombudsman Board:

Consumers warned over Birmingham agent expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme for 2 years

Published on Wednesday, 10 January 2018.

Seekers Estate Agents, a sales and lettings agent based in Erdington, Birmingham, has failed to pay awards totalling £4,137 following two separate complaints relating to a series of failings in their letting and management service.  As a result, the agent has been expelled from membership and registration for redress with The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for a minimum of two years.

TPO's Response to DCLG's 'Mandatory Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents' consultation

Published on Tuesday, 12 December 2017.

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has responded to the Government's consultation paper ‘Mandatory Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents’. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched the consultation in November to seek views on how client money protection schemes should be implemented across letting agents. TPO’s response can be viewed here 

TPO Response to DCLG Protecting Consumers in the Letting and Managing Agent Market

Published on Thursday, 07 December 2017.

Protecting consumers in the lettings and managing agent market.

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has responded to the Government's call for evidence paper 'Protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market’. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched a call for evidence in October to seek views on the potential regulation of letting and managing agents. TPO’s response can be viewed here 

TPO launches phase three of lettings fees campaign in Plymouth

Published on Monday, 13 November 2017.

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has launched phase three of its national campaign with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) to tackle lettings agents that are breaking the law by not displaying their fees. The next phase will see TPO contacting 117 letting agents in Plymouth and the surrounding region.

Calling all sales & lettings agents: Kent plays host to this month’s South East Propertymark Conference

Published on Friday, 10 November 2017.

Have you reserved your place for this month’s Propertymark Regional Conference? The conference is open to all agents and is designed to keep agents up to date on government legislation and the day is structured to give agents a choice of sessions to attend featuring industry leading speakers to give delegates the flexibility to customise their own conference experience

TPO extends its ruling against Lettings Solutions Ltd

Published on Friday, 25 August 2017.

Further to the press release in May 2017 announcing that The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme had expelled Essex based letting agent, Lettings Solutions Ltd, and imposed a two year exclusion, TPO’s independent Disciplinary and Standards Committee has now ruled that the agent should be excluded from membership of TPO and from registration for redress for a further year.

Banning letting agent fees paid by tenants: TPO responds to Government consultation

Published on Monday, 05 June 2017.

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has responded to the Government's consultation paper 'Banning letting agent fees paid by tenants'. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched a consultation in April to seek views on the implementation of a ban and on how the ban on letting agent fees paid by tenants in England should be implemented and enforced.