OFT DECIDES TO BAN TWO WEST LONDON ESTATE AGENTS

21 Mar 2006 11:15 AM

The OFT has decided to make prohibition orders against two West London estate agents, Christopher Taylor and Harunur Rashid, banning them from engaging in estate agency work. The decision will not come into effect until the end of any appeal process (see note 2).

Mr Taylor and Mr Rashid were, but no longer are, employees of Hammersmith estate agents Lawson and Daughters. At Blackfriars Crown Court in June 2005, both pleaded guilty to obtaining property by deception. The offences related to them retaining rental fees on properties which had been sub-let without the landlords' knowledge.

The OFT decided to ban Mr Taylor and Mr Rashid following receipt of information about their convictions from Tower Hamlets Trading Standards Department.

Christine Wade, OFT Director of Consumer Regulation and Enforcement said:
'Whether buying or letting a property, consumers need to be able to rely on the trustworthiness of their estate agent. If an agent engages in any form of fraudulent conduct, the OFT will not hesitate to take action to prevent them working in the profession.'

NOTES

1. 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 Estate Agents Act.

2. 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.

3. Adjudicators issue and determine Prohibition and Warning Notices under the Estate Agents Act. They do so on behalf of the OFT, but make individual and independent decisions on fitness based upon the contentions in a Notice, the evidence attached to a Notice and the representations of those to whom the Notices are addressed. Representations may be made in writing and at an oral hearing.

4. An adjudicator determined that Mr Taylor and Mr Rashid were unfit to carry on estate agency work. Prohibition Orders were made in respect of Mr Taylor and Mr Rashid on 20 February 2006. The Orders shall not come into operation until any appeal under section 7(1) of the Estate Agents Act 1979, and any further appeal, has been determined, or the period in which such an appeal may be brought has expired. Mr Taylor and Mr Rashid have until 20 March 2006 to lodge appeals.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. A public register of Prohibition Orders is kept by the OFT at the Consumer Credit Licensing Bureau, 3rd Floor, Craven House, 40 Uxbridge Road, Ealing, London, W5 2BS.

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