A letting agent has been expelled from one of the property redress schemes, meaning that it could find itself unable to trade legally. However, a firm with a similar name is claimed by the Property Redress Scheme to be trading.
Carter Stones, of 1A Connaught Road, Ilford, has been expelled from the Property Redress Scheme after failing to make awards totalling £15,406 to four complainants.
Unless it settles those amounts, it will be unable to join any other redress scheme – meaning that Carter Stones will be unable to trade, since it is a legal requirement that all letting firms offer redress through an authorised scheme.
However, a firm called CarterStones Practical Living is apparently trading. While the address on the website appears to be 702 Romford Road, London, according to EYE’s research yesterday, it is offering rental properties in places including Ilford.
Yesterday afternoon, a spokesperson for the PRS said: “The Property Redress Scheme will not accept an agent in its current trading style or one very similar with the same management if when they try to join when we are aware that the agent has not complied with a decision of another scheme.
“The National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team is in discussions with the three schemes to try to prevent agents managing to find any loop holes in the process.”
The decision to expel Carter Stones began following receipt of a number of complaints from both landlords and tenants, said the PRS.
All of the complaints received against this agent were similar in nature, relating to delay and/or failure in paying money owed to the complainants and poor or non-existent service.
Head of redress Sean Hooker said: “Failure to pay an award, however large or small, is a serious breach of our terms of reference.
“Agents must not assume that the complaint will go away if they remain silent and refuse to engage with the scheme.”
Paul Shamplina, a member of the advisory panel of the PRS, said: “Having been instructed by complainants who have not had their complaints resolved, I was shocked to discover Carter Stones are still trading out of the same premises with a slightly different name – Carter Stones Practical Living.
“I will shortly be undertaking a campaign to raise awareness of the issue of enforcement action against rogue agents.”
One landlord who previously dealt with Carter Stones and filed a complaint against them with the Property Redress Scheme said they were gratified that they have been expelled.
The landldord said: “They have made a complete mess of the management of my property, purposely it seems, illegally sub-letting, not registering rent security deposits and defrauding me out of £8,928 of rent, £745 fees/charges and security deposit.”
Carter Stones has attracted some shocking reviews on Allagents. Six give it the lowest possible rating at one star, while there are two five-star ratings – although one of the five-star ratings appears to be a mistake.
tricky. If they are limited companies then they are seperate legal entities. If they want to stop a person being a director then thats the angle they need to go down. But they havn’t here have they.
What I would hope that any landlord would do before instructing a letting agency is to do some due dilligence. Find out how long the agency has been established, talk with them and use your common sence, check the agent belongs to NARLS/ARLA as well as TPO & have client fund protection. Do some checking before giving your property to a fly by night agency.
If you look at their website it looks awful – shiney suits galor.
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Why does this company display the logos of findaproperty and globrix on its’ website?
Why do they have no legally required company information on their website?
In fact – just… why? – end of.
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