15th Dec 2005 11:00
Office of Fair Trading15 December 2005 231/05 15 December 2005 GLASGOW ESTATE AGENTS STOP BREACHING THE LAW Following action by the OFT two directors and one former manager of CountrywideNorth Limited, the Scottish subsidiary of Countrywide plc, the largest estateagency group in the UK, have been required to change their conduct and be moretransparent in their dealings with consumers. Mairi Eckford, Managing Director, Michael Miller, Sales Director, and StuartBlack, ex-Area Manager have given undertakings to the OFT that they will complywith the provisions of the Estate Agents Act and the Estate Agents (UndesirablePractices) Order. They have breached these provisions by failing to disclosetheir personal interest in new build properties that they had bought and wereselling via Countrywide. They will ensure that in the future they will promptlydisclose to their clients in writing when they or a connected person have aninterest in the sale of any property. Countrywide plc and all the named individuals have fully co-operated with theOFT. The estate agency market in the UK is estimated to be worth around £5.3 billionper year in gross income. Countrywide Estate Agents is the largest estate agencybusiness in the UK with a turnover of £536.6 million per year. Action was taken by the OFT following the receipt of information from a formeremployeee of Countrywide North in June 2004. Christine Wade, Director of Consumer Regulation Enforcement, said: 'Estate agents must be transparent in their dealings with consumers. The OFTwill take whatever action is necessary to ensure that estate agents meet theirlegal obligations and consumers can deal with them in confidence.' If an agent breaches undertakings given to the OFT, the OFT may seek anEnforcement Order from the court. If the agent then breaches the EnforcementOrder, this would amount to contempt and could be punished by a fine and/orimprisonment. If any of these individuals were found to have committed the same or similarbreaches again, the OFT could also alternatively consider banning them fromestate agency work. The OFT has obtained undertakings from six estate agents and one estate agencybusiness and has decided to ban seven estate agents and warn three estate agentsand two estate agency businesses so far in 2005. NOTES 1. The OFT sought undertakings under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002 whichcame into force on 20 June 2003. The Enterprise Act improves consumer protectionby giving enforcers strengthened powers to obtain court orders or undertakingsagainst traders that breach a range of consumer legislation; controllingactivities such as misleading advertising, misleading price indications,lotteries, sale of goods and services, underage sales, estate agency, misleadinghealth claims, trade descriptions, mock auctions, timeshare, unfair terms inconsumer contracts, doorstep selling, distance selling, package travel andconsumer credit. 2. The Estate Agents Act 1979 and related subordinate legislation covers anyonewho, in the course of business, is engaged in 'estate agency work'. 3. Under section 21 of the Estate Agents Act, a person who is engaged in estateagency work and has a personal interest in any land shall not enter intonegotiations with any prospective purchaser with respect to the acquisition ordisposal by that person of any interest in that land until the estate agent hasdisclosed to that person the nature and extent of his personal interest in it. 4. Under the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991 (Article 2(a) and paragraph 2 of Schedule 1), an estate agent must disclose to his clientpromptly and in writing that he himself or any connected person has, or isseeking to acquire, a beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of saleof any interest in the land. MEDIA enquiries: 020 7211+ Julia Thompson 8899 Julia Smith 8898 Roger Hislop 8133 Kate Wilcox 8901 Mark Kram 8900 Mike Ricketts 8904 [email protected] Out of hours: mobile: 07774 134814 messages: 020 7211 8961 Copies of press notices: Ext. 8993 http://www.oft.gov.uk PUBLIC enquiries: 0845 7224499 [email protected] OFT reports and consumer information leaflets are available free from: OFT, PO Box 366, Hayes UB3 1XB 0800 389 3158 [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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