Next week, Sandwell Council officers working with Trading Standards, will start a program of visits to Sandwell letting agents to check they are complying with new rules on compulsory membership of a redress scheme. All agents have to be a member of a government recognised scheme which is there to resolve disputes between agents and the landlords and tenants they deal with. The emphasis for now is on education, but where necessary we will act to enforce the rules which can mean a fine of £5,000 for any agent who has not registered. The Midland Landlord Accreditation Scheme is also acting to suspend the membership of any agent who is not yet registered. Any agent who has MLAS accreditation should make sure that they have properly notified MLAS of their registration.
If you re an agent, you cannot afford to ignore this, please act now. If you are a landlord and you have an agent acting for you, do make sure that they are registered. Full information on redress schemes is available on gov.uk
Oliver
The Sandwell Landlords Blog 