TPO has published a list of agents recently expelled from the scheme.

A letting agent in Finchley, The London Landlord Limited, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for failing to pay an outstanding award of over £6,000; they also failed to pay their membership renewal fees.

The Property Ombudsman received a complaint from a landlord who let his property under a guaranteed rent contract to The London Landlord. The London Landlord then sub-let the property to the occupier.

The issue arose after the occupier complained of damp. The freeholder of the block said the damp was caused by the occupier’s use of the property, but The London Landlord disagreed and believed it was due to a roof leak. The issue went unresolved and The London Landlord suspended payments of guaranteed rent on the basis the landlord was in breach of his repairing obligations under his lease with the freeholder.

The Property Ombudsman concluded that rent payments should not have been stopped. This was because the freeholder was responsible for the condition of the roof, which The London Landlord was aware as they had communicated directly with the freeholder concerning the issue. Furthermore, if the damp had been caused by the occupier’s use of the property, not the roof, then the landlord would not have been in breach of his repairing obligations under the lease.

An award was made of £5,874 for unpaid guaranteed rent and £500 for aggravation, distress and inconvenience, totalling £6,374.

The London Landlord failed to pay the award before their membership was ceased for non-payment of renewal fees.

The Ombudsman referred them to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled that they should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme.

The London Landlord’s website is still active, although it doesn’t appear to be advertising any properties.

They are, however, still using the TPO logo despite having their membership ceased in December 2019. TPO has been unable to verify any other redress registration which means they may be trading illegally.

The London Landlord has been referred to Trading Standards.

Foremost Lettings Ltd (trading as Foremost Lettings), in St Leonards-on-Sea, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman and is no longer trading.

A Facebook post from December 2019 states that the company has been bought out by The Property Café, which do not appear to hold any common directors with Foremost Lettings.

The Property Ombudsman received a complaint from a tenant who complained that Foremost Lettings did not provide sufficient information regarding the requirements for Guarantors, and so was not able to provide a suitable person to fulfil this role and the proposed let did not go ahead. The complainant wished to receive a full refund for the pre-tenancy payments made.

The Ombudsman supported this complaint to the extent that no referencing of a guarantor had been carried out and the agent’s proposal to refund the guarantor fee of £90 was reasonable in the circumstances. Foremost Lettings retained the rest of the pre-tenancy payment as they had carried out work in preparation for the tenancy.

A complaint was also raised about complaints handling, which the Ombudsman supported as there was no evidence that the tenant was provided with a copy of the agent’s internal complaints procedure when they had first raised their complaint. An award of £50 was made for the shortcoming making the total award owed to the tenant by the agent £140.

Foremost Lettings Ltd failed to pay the award and The Ombudsman referred them to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled that they should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme.

Chelmsford agent, Old Moulsham Estates Limited (trading as Hawksley Pearce), has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman and is now in liquidation but appears to have a new business trading from the same address.

The Property Ombudsman received a complaint from tenants who said that Hawksley Pearce did not ensure that repairs and maintenance were carried out during their tenancy. The boiler was not functioning at the start of the tenancy.

The agent arranged for a contractor to attend without the tenants’ permission, and following this did not provide them with a copy of the Gas Safety Certificate. Hawksley Pearce also advised the tenants that they would deal with an energy bill, not in their name, for the period before the tenancy commenced, but the tenants complained that the agent failed to do so, and did not provide them with the landlords’ address upon request.

The agent did not respond to TPO’s requests for their company file, and so the Ombudsman was reliant on the evidence provided by the tenants in order to determine whether Hawksley Pearce acted in accordance with their obligations.

The Ombudsman was not satisfied that Hawksley Pearce communicated with the landlord and the tenants regarding the repair issues reported or that the agent made appropriate responses regarding this, including informing the tenants that deductions would be made to their deposit if the agent had to instruct a contractor to resolve the issues raised.

The Ombudsman could not establish whether there was an issue with the boiler at the start of the tenancy, but was critical that Hawksley Pearce did not ensure that the location of the meter and a reading was provided to the tenants at the start of the tenancy. Despite informing the tenants that a contractor would attend the property the day after it was reported, Hawksley Pearce took no action when the tenants advised that they wished to be present and were not available for the appointment.

The Ombudsman was not satisfied that Hawksley Pearce acted appropriately in accordance with Paragraph 8g of TPO’s Codes of Practice. Moreover, the agent did not provide the tenants with a copy of the Gas Safety Certificate upon request and appeared not have communicated with the relevant party upon receipt of the energy bill provided by the tenants.

The Ombudsman was also not satisfied that the agent provided the landlords’ details to the tenants in accordance with their obligations under Paragraph 13d of the Code, which resulted in them having to obtain the details via the Land Registry.

This complaint was supported by the Ombudsman and £500 was awarded for the avoidable aggravation caused by Hawksley Pearce.

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

Leftmove Estate Agent Holdings Limited (trading as Leftmove Estate Agents), in Blackpool, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for failing to pay an outstanding award of £700 to a house seller who submitted a complaint to TPO. The agent is no longer trading.

The Property Ombudsman received a complaint from sellers of a property who complained that they were not provided with a ‘Terms of Business’ to sign and there were several areas of the service provided by Leftmove Estate Agents that they were unsatisfied with. They also complained that they did not receive regular marketing updates, offers were not confirmed in writing and they were unhappy with the way the agent dealt with their complaint.

The agent said that the terms were agreed by email and over the telephone. However, this means the agent failed to comply with their obligations under the Code of Practice. The Ombudsman supported the complaint regarding the failure of Leftmove Estate Agents to provide the sellers with a copy of their ‘Terms of Business’ to physically sign and made an award of £500 in respect of this shortcoming.

The Ombudsman also found that Leftmove Estate Agents had failed to provide regular marketing updates and an award of £100 was made in respect of this complaint. The Ombudsman was, however, satisfied that although not all offers were confirmed in writing, the sellers were verbally informed and so suffered no disadvantage.

Finally, Leftmove Estate Agents failed to address all the issues raised by the sellers in their complaints response for which a further award of £100 was made, bringing the total award owed to the sellers to £700.

Leftmove Estate Agents Holdings Limited failed to pay the award and The Ombudsman referred them to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled that they should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme.

However, the agent is now no longer trading, there is no active website, and they do not appear to be members of any professional bodies or be actively advertising properties on any of the main portals.

As part of TPO’s process, notification of all expulsions are shared with any relevant bodies, including both Local and National Trading Standards.