Three more agents expelled from TPO

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Three agents were
expelled from The Property Ombudsman Scheme (TPO) in October after
owing their landlords substantial amounts of money.

With fines totalling
just short of £20,000, the three letting agents were expelled from
the Scheme and fined.

The three were based
in Essex, Kent and North London and as members of TPO, the agents are
obliged to comply with the awards made by the Ombudsman, which all
three agents failed to do.

Landlords in
Winchmore Hill area of London (N21) are being warned that a local
estate and letting agent Assetgrove Prime Sales & Lettings Ltd
(trading as Assetgrove Prime) has been expelled from The Property
Ombudsman (TPO) scheme owing a landlord £1,820.50.

A landlord made a
complaint to The Property Ombudsman after claiming that the agent
failed to pass on the last month’s rent and failed to compensate him
for a new cooker which was missing at the end of the tenancy.

The landlord was
also dissatisfied that when he raised the issue with Assetgrove
Prime, as the employee he had been dealing with stopped responding,
the agent denied that the tenancy was anything to do with them and
said it should be directed towards the employee who actually worked
for another agency.

Landlords, tenants,
house buyers and sellers in Strood, Kent, are being warned that a
local estate agent Chambers Estates Kent Ltd, (trading as Chambers
Estates) has also been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO)
scheme.

A complaint was
brought to TPO by a landlord who said Chambers Estates owed him three
months’ rent which had been paid by the tenant but not passed on.
The statements provided showed that rent was collected by the agent
but not paid over to the landlord. The agency agreement was clear
that monies should be paid over within a month of receipt.

The agent did not
respond to the original complaint submitted by the landlord nor a
subsequent letter sent by a solicitor. The Ombudsman supported the
complaint and awarded the landlord £2,376 for rent income due and a
further £400 for connected aggravation and complaint handling
failures.

Chambers Estates
failed to pay the award and The Ombudsman referred the agent to the
scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled the firm
should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme. Chambers
Estates is not currently registered with a redress scheme, which is a
requirement of every sales and letting agent in order to trade
legally.

Trading Standards
have been informed of the expulsion. Chambers also do no not appear
to be a member of a Client Money Protection scheme, also a legal
requirement, and do not have any professional memberships. The agent
does still have properties listed with OnTheMarket, however, these
are outdated.

Buyers, sellers,
tenants and landlords in Ilford, Essex, are being warned that a local
estate and letting agent Kingsman Property Limited (trading as
Kingsman Property) has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman
(TPO) scheme owing a landlord £14,921.23.

A landlord made a
complaint to The Property Ombudsman after claiming that the agent
failed to pass on rent owed to him, which had been paid by the
tenant.

The landlord had
entered into a Guaranteed Rental Income Scheme with Kingsman Property
which was meant to ensure that the landlord received the rent every
month. The agent also confirmed that they would obtain a multiple
occupation (HMO) licence as it was their intention to rent the
property to more than two tenants. The landlord received the rent for
a period of eight months, but Kingsman Property then stopped paying
the rent, resulting in the landlord dis-instructing them. At the
time, the agent owed the landlord more than £12,000 in rent.

Unfortunately, by
the time the landlord brought the matter to The Property Ombudsman,
it transpired that the agent had gone into administration, therefore
it was highly unlikely that any award that was made would be
recovered, but the landlord asked TPO to proceed anyway.

The Ombudsman
concluded that several aspects of the service that Kingsman Property
had provided fell considerably short of the standard of service
expected under TPO’s Codes of Practice. This included the failure
to ensure that the property complied with current HMO regulations,
the failure to register some of the deposits that they received and
the failure to pay the rent as agreed. The Ombudsman made an award of
£14,921.23, which included the rent that had not been paid
(£12,421.23), the deposit (£1,000) as well as an award (£1,500)
for the avoidable aggravation and distress caused.

Kingsman Property
failed to pay the award and the Ombudsman referred the agent to the
scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled the firm
should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme.

Kingsman Property is
not currently registered with a redress scheme, which is a
requirement of every sales and letting agent in order to trade
legally. Trading standards have been informed about Kingsman
Property’s expulsion. They also do no not appear to be a member of
a Client Money Protection scheme, also a legal requirement, do not
have any professional memberships or advertise on the any of the main
property portals, Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket.

Every sales and
lettings agent in England is required to register with a
Government-approved redress scheme, which enables consumers to have
their complaint reviewed independently in the event of a dispute
arising that the consumer is unable to resolve with the agent
directly.

An agreement
between the two Government-approved redress schemes (The Property
Ombudsman and The Property Redress Scheme, means Kingsman Property
Ltd will not be able to register for any form of redress until the
award is paid. Redress registration is required for the agents to
trade legally.

A full list of
Client Money Protection schemes, is: Money Shield, Client Money
Protect, NALS Client Money Protection, Propertymark, RICS, UKALA
Client Money Protection

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