West Kensington Estate & Letting Agent expelled from The Property Ombudsman for owning a landlord £5,200

Landlords, tenants, house buyers and sellers in West Kensington, London, are being warned that a local estate agent Madox Estates Ltd, (trading as Madox) has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme. This means the agent can no longer legally trade until the outstanding award is paid. A landlord made a complaint to The Property Ombudsman after Madox failed to transfer two months rent to her as they claimed they were experiencing financial difficulties and had no means to pay the monies to her. The agent then terminated the management agreement with immediate effect and stated that additional fees were due, arguing that they did not owe the landlord any money, but rather she owed them. Madox also failed to transfer the tenant’s deposit despite confirming they would. The Ombudsman supported the landlord’s complaints and Madox was directed to transfer the rent of £2,892 (2 months’ rent, June & July 2018, minus 3% VAT management fee) to the landlord along with the deposit of £2,076.92 upon receipt of the landlord’s deposit scheme account details and the tenant's written permission. A further award of £300 was made for the avoidable aggravation, distress and inconvenience caused to the landlord by the agent's failures. However, Madox failed to pay the award and The Ombudsman referred the agent to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled the firm should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme. Madox is not currently registered with a redress scheme, which is a requirement of every sales and letting agent in order to trade legally.   They also do no not appear to be a member of a Client Money Protection scheme, also a legal requirement, do not have any professional memberships or advertise on the any of the main property portals, Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket. Madox Estates Ltd has been referred to Trading Standards. Gerry Fitzjohn, Non-Executive Director and Chairman of TPO’s Finance Committee: “As a member of TPO, agents are obliged to comply with awards made by the Ombudsman, which Madox has failed to do. Whilst the company appears to have ceased trading with no active website, we want to make consumers aware in case they appear to start trading again. It is also a reminder to consumers to ensure they use an agent which is a member of a redress scheme.”