There have been lots of stories of late about rogue landlords—they are the type that let out properties in a poor condition or try to cram as many tenants as possible into a sub-standard property. But rogue letting agents are also becoming an increasing problem for the buy to let industry and according to the ombudsman, complaints against letting agents rose by 26% in 2011.
The job of a letting agent is to act as a liaison between the landlord and tenant if the landlord is unable or unwilling to manage their properties directly. A good letting agent provides a valuable service, albeit for a fee, but a bad letting agent will cost you money, either through their incompetence, or because they attempt to deliberately defraud you.
Unfortunately, when things go wrong, a landlord’s only avenue of redress is to start legal action, which is inevitably a costly and time consuming process. So in an attempt to improve on this woeful state of affairs (in the absence of government regulation), the ombudsman is calling for reputable letting agents and industry bodies to self-regulate their own industry. This will hopefully force letting agents to join approved schemes that oblige them to follow specific codes of conduct.
As things currently stand, anyone and their dog can operate as a lettings agent since no formal qualifications or licenses are required. But by introducing self-regulation into the arena, the ombudsman hopes that disreputable letting agents will eventually become outlawed and consumers will learn how to spot the rogues before they have the opportunity to take your money and run.
