Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 18th September 2009
Which? backs naming and shaming of agents
UK consumer watchdog Which? says it would back the identification of estate agents who have complaints upheld against them by the Ombudsman.
Public affairs officer Mark McLaren said “In principle, we would support greater publication of details from the Property Ombudsman, just as we would from any Ombudsman. Naming and shaming of some kind of data is in line with making sure that Ombudsman schemes are effective”.
McLaren was commenting after the Finance Ombudsman named banks with bad track records. “This [naming and shaming] should be the direction of travel for all of the Ombudsman schemes. The reason we would like to see greater publication is that it is good for consumers, but also for the industry. It acts as a deterrent to the few bad apples” said McLaren.
Is naming and shaming good for the industry?
The overseas property industry has suffered more than most from a minority of “cowboys” giving the industry a bad name. The problem with naming and shaming is that without proper regulation, it is open to abuse from competitors deliberately bad mouthing you.
The AIPP has started to address some important ethical issues, like aggressive selling without offering cooling off periods but could it do more and should it expel members who willfully and deliberately misrepresent the products they sell for example?
The biggest ethical industry issue over the past 12 months has been the number of agents and developers going into liquidation owing investors’ money. The problem could be partially addressed by insisting money is put in a separate client accounts (escrow). This however can have serious cash-flow issues for all parties throughout the sales process.
The AIPP recently decided against adding “separate client accounts” to its code of conduct after a high profile member went into liquidation owing significant sums to investors. I can’t mention names for legal reasons. What are your thoughts?
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