TPO
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Features
In The Red
When a tenant doesn’t pay the rent, is it really the letting agent’s fault? Not necessarily, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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Latest property news
Property Ombudsman launches new portal for agents to monitor complaints
Salisbury-based The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has promoted its Casework Director Jane Erskine to the role of Deputy Ombudsman and launched a new online portal to enable agents and consumers to review cases as they proceed. Jane’s promotion is part of a reorganisation at TPO that Katrine Sporle, the Property Ombudsman, says are part of efforts to provide a “streamlined service that puts the consumer at the heart of the process”. Durham University education Jane (pictured, left) joined TPO as a case officer in 2007 after a nine-year stint working in private practice specialising in wills, conveyancing and probate, and has risen through the TPO ranks. In 2010 she was promoted to Senior Case Officer at the property dispute resolution organisation before rising to Casework Director two years later. She is a regular fixture on the property speaking circuit including at several regional NAEA conferences and masterclasses. Key to the TPO’s reorganisation is a new online portal that Katrine says will “transform the way the scheme reviews complaints by allowing agents and consumers to review live case updates, with additional functions for agents who will soon be able to renew their membership and update their contact systems at the click of a…
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Features
Liability for search results
What if a search fails to mention land earmarked for a new town, asks Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman?
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Features
‘Auctions must be accurate on the internet’ says Ombudsman
Telephone bidding at auction may seem easier, but it brings extra responsibilities to both the buyer and the agent, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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Latest property news
Welsh agents not displaying fees despite TPO enforcement letters
As the deadline for agents to get licensed with Rentsmart Wales passes, Welsh agents will be aware it is not the only organisation trying to police them. The Property Ombudsman late last month said Swansea was one of the Consumer Rights Act non-compliance hotspots after it discovered that agents in the city, along with those in Dorset, had the worst track record for displaying their fees both on their websites and in-branch, as the law now requires. Letters were sent out in a joint campaign with The Chartered Trading Standards Institutes to agents late last month warning them that non-compliant agents would be reported to local Trading Standards officers. But despite this, The Negotiator can reveal, five of the 18 letting agents with properties to let in the city still do not publish details of their fees on their websites. Earlier this month The Property Ombudsman Katrine Sporle (pictured) said up to 50% of agents in Swansea were not compliant and that they had until this Monday to remedy this. The letter has at least prompted some Swansea agents to get on board. Some 27% of them are non-compliant, an improvement on 50% and a sign that most agents across the UK…
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Latest property news
Are Swansea and Dorset agents worst at displaying letting fees?
The Property Ombudsman Katrine Sporle has revealed that the enforcement letters sent to TPO member agents in Dorset and Swansea last week requiring them to prove they are clearly displaying fees details targeted these areas first because it had found that 50% of letting agents within them were not compliant. Her comments came during her speech at The Negotiator Conference in London earlier this week. The letter (see link below) strikes a new and relatively aggressive tone compared to previous efforts and is a taste of what’s to come for agents elsewhere in the UK. TPO says the campaign is national and that the letters are being rolled out region by region in a phased approach. The next roll-out is due to be revealed. In a nutshell, the letter requires TPO members to provide an image of their fees on display in the branch and a web link and image to demonstrate where their fees are displayed on their website. “Agents in Swansea and Dorset have until 21st November to provide evidence and any agent that fails to do so will be referred to Trading Standards,” a TPO spokesperson told The Negotiator. The campaign is being conducted in partnership with the…
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Features
Is the customer always right?
Redress schemes exist to safeguard consumer rights, but, says Joanne Christie, the agent is not, you’ll be pleased to hear, always in the wrong.
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Latest property news
Property Ombudsman expulsions
The Property Ombudsman expulsions continue as four agencies feel the wrath of the largest residential estate agency Ombudsman. Four separate estate and letting agents have been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and from registration for lettings redress for two or more years, after failing to pay awards made by the Ombudsman or to comply with parts of the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents. The expulsions follow complaints from landlords and tenants. In three cases, rent totalling over £9,000 had not been passed to the respective landlords. The complaints were upheld by the Ombudsman, who ordered payment of the money to those owed, together with compensation. TPO members are required to comply with any award and/or direction given by the The Property Ombudsman and accepted by the complainants. To date, all four agents failed to make payments. Winchester Lettings Ltd, in south London, was referred to the scheme’s Disciplinary and Standard’s Committee (DSC) after failing to pay an award of £750 made to a landlord who complained about poor service. This agent does not now appear to be trading. Miaisa Ltd trading as Gallery@HD1 in Huddersfield, was directed to pay £2,312 in rent due to a landlord…
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Latest property news
Trading Standards backs TPO stance on portal juggling
The National Trading Standards Agency Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) has waded into the issue of portal juggling with a resounding thumbs up for The Property Ombudsman’s imminent changes to its guidance. James Munro, who leads the NTSEAT, today said that he welcomed the TPO’s new guidance, which will be published on Saturday. It is likely to prevent TPO member agents from misleading consumers by removing and re-listing homes on property portals, enabling them to hide price cuts and make properties appear new to the market when they are not. Munro said he believes many agents do this to “manipulate sales figures” and that the new TPO guidelines could, he says, “lead to a ruling by the Ombudsman and also referral to enforcement agencies such as NTSEAT and local trading standards authorities”. “Such referrals could lead to prohibition orders or prosecution,” he added, and that “we will continue to work closely with industries bodies to stop this unfair practice, which misleads prospective homebuyers and harms honest estate agents who conduct their business in a fair and professional way.” One agent The Negotiator spoke to, who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that although “unscrupulous”, it was a practice created in part…
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Features
Raising standards in the property industry
The Property Ombudsman is helping to raise standards in the property industry, says Katrine Sporle, The Property Ombudsman.
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