Close

Keeping landlords and tenants monies SAFE

Keeping landlords and tenants monies SAFE

14 May 2013MeetMyAgent

 

 

 

This week is a very special week, with it being the second annual SAFE Agent Awareness Week!

MeetMyAgent is a continuing supporter of SAFE Agent and what they stand for: highlighting letting agents who have client money protection in place.

While The Property Ombudsman this week announced that the number of letting agents subscribed to the scheme has passed 10,000, as it stands, there is no mandatory requirement for letting agents to be part of a redress scheme.

Unfortunately, this leaves consumers vulnerable to poor practice by the small minority of unscrupulous agents, with one particular issue being agents misappropriating damage deposits and rent, leaving landlords and tenants with a great deal of financial and emotional stress.

The government-endorsed SAFE Agent kitemark in an industry initiative that denotes agents who separate client funds from their own operating funds through the use of client money protection schemes. This means that if the letting agent shuts down, client funds are protected.

Consumers should always look for the SAFE Agent kitemark, or ensure that letting agents belong to regulatory bodies such as ARLA, NAEA, NALS, Law Society and RICS, which require members to join their respective client money protection schemes.

Here at MeetMyAgent, our support for SAFE Agent is never ending as we share the same passion to ensure that consumers use letting agents who have their best interests at heart and help raise standards in the industry.

So before choosing an agent, ask if they have client money protection in place from one of the approved schemes so that, like Leo, you too can sleep soundly knowing that your money is SAFE.