Two agents expelled by Ombudsman after failing to make payments

Two estate agents have been expelled by The Property Ombudsman service after failing to pay awards made against them.

One of the firms operated in the lettings market and can legally still deal with rental property despite the dismissal.

Both were informed of the decision a month ago and asked for their dismissals to be delayed while they paid the outstanding sums. But this has not been done so their expulsions are now confirmed.

The agents are Brooklands, of 94 High Street, Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside, and DP Estates, of 12 Crouch Hill, London.

Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer made awards totalling £3,724 against Brooklands following two complaints and £817 against DP Estates following a single complaint.

In the case of DP estates, the reasons for the original awards against them were:

1. Failure to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement prior to occupation by the tenant;
   Did not notify the landlord of key terms in the new tenancy agreement;
2. Showed a “destructive / unprofessional” attitude because another agent was instructed to sell the property;
3. Omitted to meet complaints with appropriate response and failed to respond to phone calls and emails throughout the period 2005-2007.

The reasons for the original awards against Brooklands were due to one case of unfair treatment and discourtesy and another involving the charging of two parties a fee when the terms and conditions of the agency agreement did not entitle them to this.

“Both these firms are involved in property sales with DP Estates also covering lettings,” said Bill McClintock, chief operating officer of The Property Ombudsman service.

“As a result of their dismissal from our scheme they are no longer registered with an approved redress scheme as the law now requires for agencies involved in residential property sales.
“We will be advising other estate agency bodies, and the Office of Fair Trading, about the decision taken by our disciplinary council to dismiss these two firms.

“The public should be aware that these agencies will need to be able to produce evidence of registration with an alternative redress scheme if they are to continue to sell residential property in the UK.

“Legally they could still be active in property lettings, but again there would be no Property Ombudsman redress, lessening consumer protection, which is available voluntarily from thousands of other UK lettings agencies.

“It is extremely rare for agents not to abide by the decisions of the Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, and these expulsions show that the scheme has effective sanctions when needed.

“Ultimately, lack of registration with an approved redress scheme means no UK estate agency can take any part in residential property sales. Those who ignore the law possibly face a fine of up to £1,000 from trading standards officers, who are aware of our decision regarding these two firms.”