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Press releases 2005
OFT decides to ban Smethwick estate agent
199/05 26 October 2005
The OFT has decided to make a prohibition order against Smethwick estate agent, Marios Antoniou, banning him from engaging in estate agency work. The order will not come into effect until the end of an appeals process (see note 4).
Mr Antoniou, a director of Manor Estate Agents Limited, Smethwick, was convicted of six counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception. The victims of these offences were clients of the company.
The OFT decided to ban Mr Antoniou following an investigation by Birmingham City Trading Standards Department and Mr Antoniou's subsequent prosecution.
Christine Wade, OFT Director of Consumer Regulation and Enforcement, said:
'Buying a house is probably the biggest financial purchase most consumers ever make and consumers need to trust their estate agent will not rip them off. The OFT, working together with the Trading Standards Service, will take tough action against estate agents who act fraudulently.'
The OFT has obtained undertakings from two estate agents and one estate agency business and decided to ban seven estate agents and warn three estate agents and two estate agency businesses so far in 2005.
NOTES
1. 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.
2. The OFT can ban 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. An adjudicator determined that Mr Antoniou was unfit to carry on estate agency work. A Prohibition Order was made in respect of Mr Antoniou on 29 September 2005. The Order 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 Antoniou has until 28 October 2005 to lodge an appeal.
6. 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.
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.
8. Consumers choosing an estate agent can now look for the OFT approved logo. In September 2005, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Company Limited (OEA) secured OFT approval for its consumer code of practice. The OFT only approves codes that are effective in safeguarding and promoting consumer interests beyond the basic requirements of the law. Members of the OEA can now use the OFT approved code logo to display their commitment to high quality customer service standards.
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