Another East London Letting Agent expelled from The Property Ombudsman following a complaint

Landlords and tenants are being warned that yet another local letting agent in East London has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for failing to pay an award made by the Ombudsman. Following the expulsion of William Huxley and Lang & Ward earlier in the year, Citi Places Management Ltd (trading as Citi Places Management) is the latest agent in the area which can no longer legally trade until the outstanding award is paid. A landlord made a formal complaint to Citi Places Management, but the agent did not respond so the landlord referred the matter to TPO. Upon review of the case, TPO found that the agent had failed to provide the tenants with Prescribed Information and a Deposit Certificate when the deposit was moved to TDS, as is a legal requirement. Citi Places Management had also allowed their membership of TDS to lapse which invalidated the protection of the deposit, thus denying the landlord any realistic opportunity to make a claim against the deposit or against the tenants for damage caused to the property. The agent also failed to transfer rent owed to the landlord in a timely manner and did not provide statements of account. The Ombudsman directed Citi Places Management to pay an award of £3,400 which reflected the serious disadvantage and aggravation caused to the landlord as a result of the shortcomings in Citi Places Management’s handling of the deposit. It also reflected the fact that the Ombudsman was unable to direct the agent to pay the deposit monies to her (as the deposit remained the tenants’ money and, as those monies were no longer registered with a deposit protection scheme, only a court may make an order as to their disbursement). However, Citi Places Management 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. The agent 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 and Zoopla. Citi Places Management 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 Citi Places Management has failed to do. This is a warning to consumers as the company’s website www.citiplaces.co.uk still appears active, despite no properties currently being advertised. It is also a reminder to consumers to ensure they always use an agent which is a member of a redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or The Property Redress Scheme) and holds Client Money Protection.” Every sales and lettings agent in England is required to register with a Government-approved redress scheme, which enables consumers to have their complaint reviewed independently in the event of a dispute arising that the consumer is unable to resolve with the agent directly. An agreement between the two Government-approved redress schemes (The Property Ombudsman and The Property Redress Scheme, means Citi Places Management Ltd will not be able to register for any form of redress until the award is paid. Redress registration is required for the agents to trade legally.