Two letting agents have been expelled from an independent redress scheme after failing to pay compensation awards to landlords. The Property Ombudsman excluded the firms, Musgrove & Co and Coles Property Management, alongside a surveying business, Tothill Residential Surveying Ltd, for similar failures.
Musgrove & Co, based in North Walsham, Norfolk, was directed to pay £300 compensation after a landlord complained about its refusal to transfer a holding deposit and errors in a tenancy agreement. The landlord ultimately arranged the tenancy directly with the tenants. Coles Property Management, operating as C.P.M (NW) Limited in Blackpool, was ordered to pay £100 following a complaint about delayed deposit transfers and forwarded rent after its management agreement ended.
Tothill Residential Surveying Ltd, based in Mundon, Essex, was directed to pay £800 after a customer did not receive a survey report for which they had paid £500. Chief Ombudsman Lesley Horton stated that an Ombudsman award is not optional and registered businesses are expected to comply with decisions, adding that expulsion is always a last resort.