This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The Property Redress Scheme has today decided to expel a letting agent for showing non-compliance to a redress decision.
Ban
Croydon-based agent Jordan Residential was banned following an initial complaint of holding a deposit. After seeing a property advertised by the letting agent as a three-bedroom home, the tenant in question arrived to the house to find that the property had only two bedrooms with a converted lounge.
After allegedly being rushed and pressured by Jordan Residential, the tenant paid a deposit of £600, without receiving an explanation of what it would cover or whether it would eventually be refunded.
Sensibly upon reflection, the tenant decided that they were unhappy with the situation. As such, they then informed the agent within 24 hours that they would still accept the property but only at a lower market rent, based on typical two bedroom rental amounts in the local region.
Refusal
Jordan Residential then verbally refused the offer and proceeded to not enter into any more correspondence with the tenant following this conversation. Despite sending two letters to the agent, the tenants’ communication attempts were still ignored.
As a result, the tenant lodged a complaint with the Property Redress Scheme, who ultimately decided that in this instance, the retention of the tenants’ deposit was unfair as:
- The tenant pulled out of the tenancy before the relevant costs covered by the holding deposit had actually been incurred by the agent.
- The Agent had not yet taken the property off the market so the landlord had not suffered any loss by the property being held.
- The property did not conform to its description. [1]
Property Redress Scheme ban agent
Costly
In addition, the head of redress told Jordan Residential to pay £612.80 to the complainant, in lieu of the holding deposit and subsequent postal costs that were incurred by the tenant. As yet, Jordan Residential have yet to pay the award.
What’s more, the letting agent has not even acknowledged the demands of the Property Redress Scheme, nor attempted to deal with the situation as a genuine claim.
Jordan Residential had its membership suspended with the promise of a full enquiry by the head of redress. A recommendation was made that the agent was expelled due to a lack of co-operation with the complaints process and a failure to pay the award.
Chief executive of the Property Redress Scheme Sean Hooker commented, ‘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.’[1]
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/8/prs-expels-agent-for-failing-to-pay-award-to-tenant
