East London Estate Agent expelled from The Property Ombudsman following a complaint

Buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords in Isle of Dogs, London, are being warned that a local estate and letting agent, Property 24/7 Limited, trading as Property 24/7, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme for failing to pay an award of £500 made by the Ombudsman. This means the agent can no longer legally trade until the outstanding award is paid. Tenants made a complaint to The Property Ombudsman stating that Property24/7 had failed to register their deposit with a deposit protections scheme within 30 days, did not communicate with the landlord over the tenants’ requirements for furnishings and pre-tenancy repairs and failed to respond to their communications. Property 24/7 did not cooperate with TPO’s review of the case, in that they did not provide their branch file. The Ombudsman supported all three elements of the case and made an award of £500. The agent’s membership of TPO had ceased at the date of review but the events occurred during their period of TPO membership. The agent’s membership was then reinstated upon payment of renewal within the ‘grace period’ Property 24/7 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. Property 24/7 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. The agent has been referred to trading standards and complainants have been advised of potential problems with award enforcement and the fact there is an active proposal to strike Property 24/7 off Companies House register. 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 Property 24/7 has failed to do. Whilst the company’s website www.property-247.com no longer appears active, we want to make consumers aware in case they appear to start trading again. It is also a reminder to consumers to ensure they also use an agent which is a member of a redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or The Property Redress Scheme) and holds Client Money Protection." An agreement between the two Government-approved redress schemes (The Property Ombudsman and The Property Redress Scheme, means Property 24/7 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.