Deptford estate agent expelled from The Property Ombudsman following a complaint

Buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords in Deptford, London, are being warned that a local estate and letting agent, Chebar Homes Ltd, has been expelled from The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme. This means that the agent can no longer legally trade until the outstanding award is paid. Landlords made a formal complaint to The Property Ombudsman about Chebar Homes’ handling of rent and complaint handling. Upon investigation, the agent did not dispute that they had failed to pass on the majority of rent in a timely manner and that the landlords were owed one months rent (minus commission). The Ombudsman supported the complaint against Chebar Homes, and was critical that they had failed to provide the landlords with a copy of their complaints procedure or respond to their formal complaint.  An award for £1,556 was made. However, Chebar Homes failed to pay the award and The Ombudsman referred the agent to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled it should be expelled from The Property Ombudsman scheme. Chebar Homes 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. Chebar Homes 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 Chebar Homes Ltd has failed to do. It appears that this agent is no longer trading, which is frustrating for those complainants who are owed outstanding monies.  We would like to remind 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 Chebar Homes 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.