Lettings
Professional
Agent
Is your Property Protected?
There are two parts to property
letting; effective marketing and robust and compliant management.
Appointing a professional agent cannot guarantee effective
marketing but usually provides assurances and guarantees on
how your property is looked after.
Is your agent a member of at
least one of the main four professional bodies?
RICS – Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
NAEA – National Association of Estate Agents
ARLA – Association of Residential Letting Agents
NALS – National Approved Letting Scheme
Property Management Agents with
membership to any of the above will automatically have:
- Compliant Tenancy Agreements
- access to the latest compliant Tenancy Agreements and
other legal documents through their governing body
- Mandatory membership to the
Ombudsman for Estate Agents – customer compliance
& complaints regulator
- Bonded Client Money Protection
– ensuring all money, in particular your rent and
the tenancy deposits are managed only through client’s
accounts with insured protection against loss through fraud
or insolvency
- CPD – Continued professional
development of all professional members
- Audited Accounts –
mandatory production of audited annual accounts, which are
approved by the professional body
- Tenancy Deposit Scheme –
mandatory registration with ‘The Tenancy Dispute Scheme’
ensuring registration and accountability for all tenancy
deposits
- Data Protection & Consumer
Credit Licenses – Compliant registration with the
government authority
Client Money Protection
Client Money Protection –
As a responsible agent, whist going through the process of
referencing and appraising a tenant, any deposits and initial
rent payments are held in a separate client’s account,
which in turn is protected by a bonded client money scheme.
Initial Rent Collection – The first months rent is always
collected in advance of tenancy commencement by way of cleared
funds. A standing order mandate is set up for the payment
of subsequent rent.
Back to the top
of the page.
|
