Today (3.30pm), at the House of Lords, The Property Ombudsman (TPO) launches its latest annual report, which reveals an increase in the number of formal complaints resolved by the scheme and a record total of compensatory awards paid by agents.
Find out more about this case and why the agent was right to tell the truth.
A Buyer contacted TPO to complain that their agent had refused to return a £5,000 pre-contract deposit. Find out more about the agent’s shortcomings and Ombudsman’s decision.
The devil is in the detail: A Landlord alleged their property had been damaged and claimed the agent had not submitted comprehensive documentation to the tenancy deposit scheme. Find out more about the missing documentation that helped the Ombudsman rule on this case.
Read more about this consumer case summary and the Ombudsman’s investigation, which found the agent had withheld material information with dire consequences for the Buyers.
This dispute focused on the actions of an agent who had evaded the truth concerning a lost set of management keys, and had prolonged a maintenance issue. TPO’s investigation unearthed the truth and found the agent had failed to deal with the complaint or advise the complainant that the matter could be referred to TPO for independent review.
A costly mistake - this referencing case summary highlights the Agent's role to ID Tenants. Read more about this and another fundamental issue missed by the agent, which resulted in the Ombudsman instructing the agent to pay a £21,972 award. (The highest award paid by an Agent in 2016 - see page 15 of the 2016 TPO Annual Report)
This case concerns the complaint by the sellers that the agent had charged them additional VAT on the commission fee, whereas they had understood that the fee was inclusive of VAT.
Whose responsibility is it anyway? This case summary looks at a tenure dispute - find out more about the complaint and the Ombudsman’s ruling after the agent claimed long leaseholds amounted to ‘the same thing’ as freehold.
The three government approved redress schemes; The Property Ombudsman (TPO), Ombudsman Services: Property and The Property Redress Scheme have today issued a revised version of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
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.
Baroness Diana Warwick has been appointed Chair of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme’s independent Council.
Ombudsman considers an extraordinary case concerning three properties and issues including tenant referencing, outstanding rent and repair bills and a tenancy renewal agreed without the landlord’s consent.
Landlords and tenants are being warned that London Corporate Apartments Ltd (LCA) has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for failing to pay an award following a rental deposit dispute.
SAFEagent campaign urges consumers to make sure their money is 'SAFE'
The Law Commission has published a new report following a two-year investigation into the potential abuse of called “event fees” or “transfer fees” in retirement properties. The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme contributed to the report, which reviews the actions of agents and makes a series of recommendations.
The Property Ombudsman reveals the latest results from its nationwide campaign to crack down on letting agents breaking the law by not displaying their fees and confirms which two new locations it will be targeting next…
TPO Codes in action! Find out how The Property Ombudsman's CCAS-approved Codes are used to review every complaint and go above and beyond the law to protect consumers from unfair practices...
Consumers are urged to check if their trader is one of the 43,000 businesses following an approved Code of Practice and listed on the Approved Code Directory
The Minister for Government and Housing and Property Ombudsman will be joining a host of top industry names at next month's Propertymark Scotland Conference - have you reserved your place?
