No excuse not to join

There’s no excuse for any residential estate agent in England and Wales not to belong to the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme and abide by its Government-approved Code of Practice.

That’s the view of Bill McClintock, chairman of OEA Ltd., as he unveiled an offer for all agents who have yet to sign up to the independent redress scheme.

The Department for Trade and Industry announced at the beginning of March that the OEA had been appointed to provide the statutory redress brought in under the Housing Act 2004 and confirmed by the Home Information Pack (Redress Scheme) Order 2007.

From June 1, Home Information Packs will be required for all residential properties offered for sale and when HIPs go live on June 1, 2007, all residential estate agents in England and Wales who market homes with the packs will be required by law to be registered with the OEA.

However, registration does not entitle them to display the OEA logo on their premises. The logo, together with the OFT Fair Trader logo, is a sign to all consumers that the agent has signed up to the OEA Code of Practice, the only one covering the residential property industry that is recognised by the OFT.

Agents registering under the HIPs regulations will be required to pay an annual fee to the OEA of £100 plus VAT per office, which compares with the £120 plus VAT per office paid by full members, and a standard joining fee of £20 plus VAT which applies to any business enrolling with OEA.

However, until the HIPs registration deadline on May 31, Mr. McClintock says the OEA will allow any estate agency to enlist for full membership at a cost of £120 per office plus VAT with no joining fee, effectively offering full membership for the cost of the lesser HIPs registration.

“I think the public is entitled to enjoy full OEA protection when dealing with any estate agent and I hope the offer will help achieve this,” he explained.

“Under the terms of the OEA, the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, has the power to make an award of up to £25,000 against any member estate agent who breaches the Code of Practice.

“This is not a fine, going to central funds as it would be in a court of law, but a straight compensation payment from estate agent to consumer intended as recompense for any loss that may have been suffered.

“The Ombudsman’s rulings are binding on member agents but the consumer still has the right of redress through the courts if not happy with the Ombudsman’s decision.

“I can’t see why any estate agent who has not registered before has any reason not to take full membership now. It will cost nothing this year and around £20 a year in subsequent years - even for a multi-office operation we are not talking a huge amount of money.

“After June 1, consumers will know that any estate agent in England and Wales not displaying the OEA logo has made a conscious decision not to sign up to the Code of Practice. They should ask themselves why and vote with their feet.

“A letter has gone out to every non-member agency this week outlining what needs to be done to register under the HIPs rules. But following earlier publicity about the OEA’s appointment by the OFT, our membership office has been getting 20 to 30 calls a day from agents, many interested in full membership rather than the legal minimum requirement.

“This is great news for the industry and also consumers.”