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OFT bans Bridlington estate agency and directors

Since this notice was published, Carlo Ykhlef and Lucy Lloyd, of Quay Homes Estate Agency Limited, have appealed against this order. The appeal was unsuccessful and the ban has been upheld.

133/07    18 September 2007

The OFT has made a Prohibition Order against Bridlington estate agents 'Quay Homes Estate Agency Limited' and its two directors, Lucy Lloyd and Carlo Ykhlef, banning them from estate agency work.

An adjudicator determined that Lucy Lloyd failed to disclose to a potential purchaser, even when challenged, that she was the owner of a property that she was marketing. The OFT has also banned Mr Ykhlef and the company as they are jointly liable for Ms Lloyd's breaches under the Estate Agents Act 1979.

Ray Hall, OFT Director of Markets and Projects said:

'Estate agents must be candid and open with their clients if they stand to profit from the sale of a property they are marketing. It is essential for consumers to know if the agent has a potential conflict of interest.'

NOTES

1. The OFT can take action with a view to banning from estate agency work a person (and for the purposes of the Estate Agents Act this can also be a company or a partnership) 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 1979 and its associated regulations ('the Act'), or who has engaged in specified undesirable practices, if an adjudicator finds that the person in question is unfit to act as an agent.

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 Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

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

4. An adjudicator determined that Quay Homes Estate Agency Limited and its two directors, Lucy Lloyd and Carlo Ykhlef, were unfit to carry on estate agency work generally. Prohibition Orders were made in respect of the company and the two directors on 7 September 2007. The Order will not come into operation until the period in which any appeal could be made under section 7(1) of the Act has expired. The company and the directors have until 5 October 2007 to lodge such an appeal.

5. An adjudicator appointed by the OFT determined that Quay Homes Estate Agency Limited, Lucy Lloyd and Carlo Ykhlef breached the Estate Agents Act 1979 and the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices)(No.2) Order 1991.

6. Section 21 of the Act requires an estate agent to disclose to clients that he has, or is seeking to acquire, a personal interest in the sale of a property.

7. Under the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices)(No.2) Order 1991, ('the UPO'), an estate agent must disclose to his client promptly and in writing that he has, or is seeking to acquire a beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of sale of any interest in the land.

8. Under Section 3(3) of the Act the company and Carlo Ykhlef were liable as business associates for the breaches of the Act and the UPO committed by Lucy Lloyd.

9. 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.

10. The Act 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/or 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.

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