MANCHESTER ESTATE AGENT BANNED

28 Feb 2006 11:15 AM

The OFT has decided to make a prohibition order against Manchester estate agent Martin Corrick Levy, banning him from engaging in estate agency work. The order will not come into effect until the end of an appeals process (see note 7).

Mr Levy, who traded as Scotts Estate Agents of 443 Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, has received a prohibition order from the OFT.

Mr Levy breached section 18 of the Estate Agents Act by failing to comply with certain provisions of the Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations and he also failed to pass on promptly and in writing at least two offers to his clients.

Mr Levy also breached his fiduciary duty to his clients by seeking to obtain payments relating to his fees from both his clients and the proposed purchasers of the property concerned.

The Estate Agents Act requires an agent to set out his client's liabilities clearly and to pass on all offers received by him to his client promptly and in writing (unless his client specifies otherwise in writing).

Christine Wade, Director of Consumer Regulation Enforcement, said: 'This case shows how the OFT will act to protect consumers from estate agents involved in unacceptable practices.'

NOTES

1. An adjudicator appointed by the OFT determined that Mr Levy was unfit to carry on estate agency work. A Prohibition Order was made in respect of Mr Levy on 3 February 2006.

2. The Estate Agents Act 1979 covers anyone who, in the course of business, is engaged in 'estate agency work'. This means introducing to someone else a person who wishes to buy, sell or lease land or property, and being involved in negotiating the subsequent deal. The work must be in the course of business, whether as employer or employee, and as a result of instructions from a client. The land or property may be commercial, industrial, agricultural or residential. This does not include acting as a letting agent.

3. Under section 18 of the Estate Agents Act, an estate agent must, before entering into any contract for estate agency services, give his client particulars of the circumstances in which the client will become liable to pay remuneration, and particulars of the amount of the agent's remuneration for carrying out estate agency work; or if this is not possible, details of the way in which it will be calculated.

4. The Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991 ("the Regulations") clarify and extend these obligations and explain certain terms. If any of the terms "sole agency", "sole selling rights" or "ready, willing and able purchaser" are used by an estate agent in the course of carrying out estate agency work, he shall explain the intention and effect of those terms to his client by means of a written explanation having the form and content of the statements set out in the Schedule to the Regulations. The statutory explanations must be used in the form set out in the Regulations unless this would be misleading because of the other provisions of the contract.

5. Under the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No.2) Order 1991(paragraph 2 of Schedule 3), an estate agent is required to pass on to his client promptly and in writing accurate details (other than those his client has indicated in writing that he does not wish to receive) of any offer he has received from a prospective purchaser in respect of an interest in the land.

6. The OFT can bar from estate agency work a person who has been convicted of certain specified offences such as fraud, or other dishonesty or violence; or who has committed racial or sexual discrimination in the course of estate agency work; or who has failed to comply with the requirements placed on estate agents by the Act.

7. Before a prohibition order is issued, the person concerned has the right to make representations to the OFT as to why the Order should not be made. If these representations are unsuccessful, subsequent appeal can be made to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

8. After an Order has been made, the person affected can at any time, and on payment of a fee, currently £2,500, apply to the OFT for the Order to be varied or revoked.

9. A public register of Prohibition Orders is kept by the OFT at Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8JX.

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