Consumer Protection Regulations: The Property Ombudsman’s approach to resolving Disclosure Disputes 

Bower & Bower (B&B), a sales and lettings agent in Exeter, Devon, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme. 

Buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords in Coventry are being warned that a local sales and letting agent has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for failing to pay awards totalling £8,583.63.  This means the firm, Lawrence Property Consultants Ltd (LPC), is not registered with a redress scheme, which is a requirement of every sales and letting agent in order to trade legally*.

National Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT), with the support of The Property Ombudsman and the Property Redress Scheme, have today launched a survey to assess the use of referral fees among estate agents.

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has today released its 2017 annual report.

The issue of housing and homes is highly emotive and when something goes wrong people feel strongly that issues should be resolved fairly, appropriately and quickly. The role that agents play as part of that process is important and how agents handle complaints is under the spotlight. MHCLG has asked what can be done to improve in-house complaint handling?

Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman comments on the MHCLG announcement that it will professionalise the estate agent market: “We welcome the news the Government is introducing measures to professionalise the estate agent market. Requiring agents to hold a professional qualification and be transparent about any referral fees they receive should go a long way to raise standards in the industry and stamp out poor practice.

RIGHTMOVE WEBINAR: 11th APRIL 2:30pm-3.15pm

Agents and property professionals have been signing up for their tickets to this year’s TPO Conference ‘Raising Standards’ on Wednesday 13^th June, to be held at the National Conference Centre in Solihull, where Mark Prisk, former Housing Minister and local government minister, will be a guest speaker.

Buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords in and around Canary Wharf are being warned that a local agent has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme following a consumer dispute.

Wilkins Residential, a sales and lettings agent in Hove, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for one year and six months after the Ombudsman supported a complaint relating to non-payment of rent on three properties to landlords whose properties they managed.

Seekers Estate Agents, a sales and lettings agent based in Erdington, Birmingham, has had its expulsion

from membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme extended from two to three years, after a further consumer complaint was brought against the agent.

A sales and lettings agent in Hounslow has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for three years and six months after the Ombudsman supported three separate complaints relating to a series of failings, but predominantly for non-payment of rent to landlords whose properties they managed.

A sales and lettings agent in Luton has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for ten years after the Ombudsman supported a complaint relating to non-payment of rent received on 31 properties.

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.

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.

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

Today, The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has issued a warning to all estate and letting agents to act with caution, as fraudulent ‘buyers’ target agents with the latest computer virus scam. 

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.

A sales and lettings agent in South West London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for a year after the Ombudsman supported a landlord complaint.