|
Property News
Consumer group adds to calls for estate agent licensing - 12/05/2006
|
|
| Why not be the first to rate this article? |
|
|
Email this page to a friend
|
Government officials should make sure dishonest estate agents are stopped from trading, consumer association Which? said today.
The group's statement came in response to a call from the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) for compulsory licensing amongst estate agents.
Stephen Carr-Smith of the ombudsman had been responding to the news that the number of complaints against estate agents had risen by nine per cent in the past year.
Louise Hanson, head of campaigns at Which?, said: "This news comes as no surprise. Which? has long campaigned for an independent redress scheme to offer much-needed peace of mind to those who fall-foul of rogue estate agents; it's high time the government took urgent action."
Meanwhile, the BBC's Whistleblower programme recently alleged that a number of estate agents are taking part in potentially illegal practices.
Bill McClintock, Chairman of the OEA, said if the allegations could be proved they "would all be serious breaches of the [ombudsman's] code of practice".
He added that if the agents in question had been members of the OEA "consumers would have been able to take their complaints to the ombudsman, who can make awards binding on the agent of up to £25,000".
The OEA's code of practice won backing from the Office of Fair Trading late last year.
© Adfero
Back to Index
|
|