Use Letting Agents That Are Registered With An Approved Redress Scheme For Consumer Protection
This article was written on 06 Jul 2009
Being haunted by the urge to inflict pain upon a letting agent isn’t an unfamiliar feeling to me. My hate has been real, fueled by God awful customer service and snake-sly antics. I’ve had visionaries of being the executioner; I’ve congealed mental images of hanging an agent up from a tree. I’ve had graphic and morbid visions of bending an agent’s wife over the kitchen table while penetrating her, knowing full well her greasy husband was due home in any moment. But of course, none of those examples will pierce through the thick skin. Like garlic to a vampire, the best way to hurt an agent is by extracting money from their pockets.
Dealing with rogue letting agents can be one of the most frustrating aspects of being a Landlord. And when letting agents fail to do their job properly, it’s not always clear who you can complain to, or even if you have a right to complain. That’s why it’s imperative that you, as a Landlord or tenant, use a letting agent that has registered with an approved redress scheme (these agents are approved by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT)). Agent members of a scheme are required to abide by a code of conduct; failing to do so can have the consequences of financial compensation to the consumer.
An example of one of these schemes is the The Property Ombudsman (TPO). Not all agents are members of a scheme. However, you can usually identify those who are as they will normally display a logo. Those agents registered with the TPO should display a logo like this:
Member agents must follow the The Property Ombudsman Letting Code of Practice, which you can be found on the website. The TPO can award compensation of up to £25,000 in any one case. The service is free of charge for the public.
If you’re not sure if any agent is registered to a scheme, it’s always best to ask, so you have the assurance of knowing you’re working with a regulated agent. A notorious problem over the years for consumers has been that they had more rights when purchasing a tin of baked beans than when buying/renting a house. There has been no legislation or governing body keeping control of rogue agents. It’s only recently that laws have been put into place to help with consumer protection in the property industry. Since October 2008, all estate agents have been required to register with an approved scheme, although this is not the case with agents who only do lettings. That’s precisely why it’s important to use an agent that is registered- it’s usually the agents that aren’t registered which provide the worst service.
Advantages of using a Letting Agent Registered to a scheme
In summary, there are mainly 2 primary reasons why you should use a registered agent:
- 1) Agents that are registered are most likely to provide a better service
- 2) If a registered agent provides a poor service, you have a moderating body to complain to
Do you make sure your agent is registered with a scheme?
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Talk / 7 Comments
Sorry, I guess that's just my writing style, morbid and graphic =/
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Bye Bye then!
@L
Keep up the good work!!
Jools
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It was me, Fee I just couldnt be bothered typing my name. It wasnt a dig I just think its a property site..so theres not much need... and I know if I dont like it then blah blah dont read it and all that.
But what you put is actually really interesting...
Anyways yeh...made my point now.
Fee
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Jools
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It's a "property blog", not a "property site" per'se- there's a difference. If you want clean polished articles, you should read Rightmove's blog or something. You won't learn as much cool shit, but it will be lighter on the eyes hah! I like to keep things raw because it's more real.
It's like, if you learn to fight in a controlled Karate studio, you'll probably get battered if you go up against someone that's been street fighting all his life lol!
Speaking of which, did you watch that movie called "Private Parts" last night? It was a movie about how Howard Stern became a famous radio DJ. For years he was holding back from expressing how he actually felt about certain subjects because that's what people in the media generally do, "say the right thing" as opposed to saying how they really feel.
It eventually drove him crazy, and he suddenly just flipped and started being completely open on air. His producers went crazy, but his listeners loved his open approach. He eventually became one of the most popular DJ's in America because of his honesty.
Anyways, i'm just saying, this blog is based on my experiences/feelings! Actually, it's based on everyones experiences/feelings, and I don't want people to hold back, just as I don't.
xx
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