The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme has launched phase three of its national campaign with the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) to crack down on the letting agents that are breaking the law by not displaying their fees.
This phase will see TPO contacting 117 letting agents in Plymouth and the surrounding region.
Phases one and two of the campaign targeted agents in Swansea and Dorset, followed by Reading, Basingstoke and the surrounding areas. The purpose of the campaign is to improve awareness of the current legislation that requires agents to display fee information and ensure that more firms are fully compliant, to avoid fines being imposed by Trading Standards.
The campaign requires agents to submit evidence, and any firm that is found to be displaying the information incorrectly is given additional guidance and the opportunity to amend and resubmit to ensure that they are compliant.
The first two phases of the campaign saw 445 agents asked to submit photographic evidence, with 95% of agents now displaying fees correctly as a result. Agents that fail to comply and submit evidence will be referred directly to Trading Standards, which can impose fines of up to £5,000.
TPO, Katrine Sporle, says: “We’ve had an excellent response in the regions the campaign has focused on so far, with the vast majority of agents demonstrating they are compliant. This campaign is about educating agents that are either failing to display the required information or are unwittingly breaching the law by not displaying it correctly, which is why our campaign is phased, so we can offer agents additional guidance and support, so they can put things right and avoid risking a fine from Trading Standards.”
In the last three months, it has been reported that agents in London alone have been issued with fines from Trading Standards totaling as much as £370,000 for not displaying their fees correctly.
To date, seven agents are due to be referred to Trading Standards for falling short of the expectations outlined in TPO’s Lettings Code of Practice and failing to display their fees in accordance with the law.
While the Government has confirmed its intention to ban agents from charging fees to tenants in the future, as laid out in its draft Tenants’ Fees Bill this month, there is no confirmation on when this new legislation will come into force.
This means that the current law still applies, and agents in England and Wales must display any tenant and landlord fees prominently, along with their redress scheme membership and any Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme membership details. This information must be displayed at all premises where agents deal face-to-face with tenants and landlords, and on the agent’s website.
Furthermore, regardless of the future ban on tenant fees, letting agents will still be required to display the fees they charge to landlords. Therefore, TPO and CTSI’s joint campaign to ensure agents display their fees in accordance with the law will continue.
As before, agents in Plymouth will be asked to provide photographic evidence to demonstrate that they are correctly displaying their fees in both the branch and on their company websites, as required by law.
Sporle adds: “TPO has also been in contact with a Trading Standards officer from Plymouth, who is focusing on display of lettings fees, and TPO and Trading Standards Plymouth hope to work collaboratively on this project to ensure we continue to see positive results or encourage agents to make changes where necessary.”