Basic Search  |  Summaries  |  Advanced SearchPenalty: £0
Year: 2022
Date: 1 October, 2022
Offence Group: consumer-protection-related offences
Offence Type: consumer protection violation
Violation Description: The leaseholder terminated his agreement with the agent, who was required to pass on all relevant documents to make the handover run smoothly. The agent provided no audit trail of any documents being sent and frustrated the process by indicating that the freeholder was responsible for collecting the information, which would only be available for sixty days, before being destroyed. Because the leaseholder received no formal set of accounts or other information requested, the PRS awarded a refund of eight months' management fees for the period of poor service. The agent was also instructed to provide service charge statements that need to be verified by an accountant and to send the leaseholder a meaningful apology. The leaseholder was signposted to the Property Tribunal for legal issues raised that were outside the PRS's authority. Due to non-compliance with this decision and the link between the two businesses and their directors, both this agent and Fountayne Residential Ltd were expelled. These agents must now face the consequences of being expelled from the Property Redress Scheme. With the memorandum of understanding in place between the two redress schemes, no expelled member can join any scheme until the terms of the Head of Redress's decision have been settled. This means that property agents who continue to trade, without redress, are doing so illegally and considerable fines can apply.
Agency: Property Redress Scheme
Source of Data: (click here)