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News: Ombudsman expels 'reckless' letting agent

Tue, 03 Jun 14

The Property Ombudsman has expelled an agent following a complaint from a landlord.

Whytehead Property Management, which trades as LBW Lettings in Fleet, Hampshire, refused to pay an award made by TPO following a complaint over the management of repairs to the landlord's property and failing to reference a tenant.

The complainants instructed LBW to manage a claim against their insurance for flood damage to the property following a previous tenancy and asked the agent to oversee the repairs, prior to finding a new tenant.

About three months after the start of the tenancy, after receiving no rental income from LBW, the complainants discovered that LBW had used the payments to cover the cost of repairs which had not been covered by the insurance money.

The complainant went on to dispute charges for incomplete and unauthorised plumbing repairs, for the unauthorised purchase of various items including a washing machine and kitchen unit, and for managing the repair work.

The Ombudsman was critical of LBW's poor written communication with the landlord, for an alleged lack of agreed written Terms of Business for letting the property, and the apparent lack of a detailed breakdown of expenditure with receipts.

The Ombudsman was also extremely critical of LBW for agreeing the tenancy on the complainants' behalf without first carrying out any appropriate referencing of the tenant, which the Ombudsman considered to be reckless.

The Ombudsman instructed LBW Lettings to pay an award of £2,850. After providing LBW Lettings with further opportunities to account for their actions, TPO expelled the firm for a period of two years. TPO has provided the complainants with guidance to seek payment of the award by alternative means, such as the small claims court.

“Many of the complications and issues that arose in this case could be attributed to the lack of proactive, written communication. Letting agents should always provide written and agreed Terms of Business before entering an agreement, which was missing in this case. LBW's lack of tenant referencing also fell considerably short of the requirements outlined in TPO's Code of Practice, which recklessly left the landlords open to risk” says Gerry Fitzjohn, TPO's chief operating officer.

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