WOKING BROTHERS BANNED FROM ESTATE AGENCY WORK

20 Jan 2005 03:15 PM

Two brothers who run a Woking estate agency have been banned from working as estate agents after taking advantage of a vulnerable client for their own financial gain.

Claudio and Luigi Ascione had their appeal against an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ban rejected by the Secretary of State of Trade and Industry, thereby bringing the ban into effect.

Claudio Ascione was a branch manager and Luigi Ascione an area manager working for a leading chain of estate agents. The company was marketing a property on behalf of a recently widowed woman who was anxious to sell. Unknown to their employers, the Asciones used a company they owned to buy this property.

The brothers encouraged the owner of the property to accept an offer from their company that was below market value, while failing to declare their personal interest. This led to their dismissal from the company they were employed by.

The Office of Fair Trading banned the brothers from working as estate agents after the matter came to light.

A tribunal was appointed to hear the appeals against the ban in September 2004. The tribunal found that the Asciones' failure to disclose their personal interest was done knowingly, deliberately and with the intention of making a profit at the expense of a vulnerable client.

The tribunal found that Claudio and Luigi Ascione, currently partners in the estate agency business Kingsleys, of Knaphill, near Woking in Surrey, were unfit to practice as estate agents and recommended that they should both be prohibited from estate agency work.

The Secretary of State has accepted this recommendation.

Notes for Editors 1. The trading address for Kingsleys estate agents is 15 The Broadway, Knaphill, Woking, GU21 2DR. [There is no connection between Kingsleys estate agents of Knaphill and Andrew Kingsley estate agents who trade in south London and Kent.]

2. In August 2001, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) informed Claudio Ascione and Luigi Ascione (the Appellants) that it proposed to make orders under the Estate Agents Act 1979 prohibiting them from doing any estate agency work.

3. The Appellants made written representations to the OFT in October 2001 and requested an oral hearing. This was before the OFT's Adjudication Officer in March 2002. Further written representations were made on behalf of the Appellants in June 2002. In November 2003 the Adjudication Officer notified the Appellants that he had decided, on behalf of the OFT, to issue an order to each appellant prohibiting them from carrying out estate agency work.

4. The estate agents appealed to the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry and a hearing was held on 7 September 2004. The hearing was before an appeals tribunal that had been appointed to hear the appeals on behalf of the Secretary of State.

5. Having considered the report and the recommendations of the appeals tribunal, the Secretary of State decided, as recommended by the tribunal, that the appeals be dismissed and the prohibition orders should come into force.

6. The Estate Agents Act 1979 gives the OFT power to make orders either prohibiting a person from carrying out estate agency work or warning them that any further failures to comply with necessary obligations would render them unfit. The OFT makes this assessment taking into account all the relevant circumstances. There are a number of matters which the Estate Agents Act particularly requires it to take into account, among which are evidence that the person has engaged in practices declared undesirable by the Secretary of State, has been convicted of offences involving fraud or dishonesty, failed to comply with obligations imposed on him or has committed discrimination in the course of estate agency work.

7. Before the OFT makes a final decision to make a prohibition or warning order, the person concerned can put his or her side of the story to an Adjudication Officer at the OFT.

8. If the OFT decides to make a prohibition or warning order, it tells the person formally of its decision. The person then has the opportunity to appeal to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

9. A tribunal of independent persons, appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of State, hears appeals to the Secretary of State under the Estate Agents Act. Both the OFT and the person concerned can argue their case before the tribunal. The tribunal then submits a detailed report to the Secretary of State with its recommendation as to the outcome of the appeal. It is the policy of the Secretary of State that she will, save in exceptional circumstances, follow the recommendations of the tribunal. Further the Secretary of State will not depart from the recommendations of the tribunal without first giving both parties an opportunity to make representations.

10. Once the Secretary of State decides the outcome of the appeal, she notifies the person concerned and the OFT of her decision. The person then has a further right of appeal, on a point of law, to the High Court.

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