ARLA registered letting agents…

[Chick]

Hello everyone,

Am about to sign up with a letting agent to let out my flat for the first time & I’ve narrowed it down to two letting agents who are ARLA registered…done a bit of research on ARLA via the web.

However, the question is: does it make any difference whether or not the agent is ARLA registered when it comes to any dispute with tenants e.g. non-payment of rent.
Also, if being with ARLA is so important, why aren't all letting agents registered?

In other people’s experiences, has the fact their letting is ARLA registered helped then in dealing with any problems that arose? The bottom line is, any there any tangible benefit for landlords being with ARLA registered letting agents?
Thanks a lot, Chick

[Poppy]

Try doing a bit of research on ARLA's website (http://www.arla.co.uk).

[Paul_f]

Chick, I've posted a lot on this already so have a look at other postings on the letting agents forum.

If you use a regulated agent (ARLA/NAEA/RICS) then you are afforded a great deal of protection agains any misappropriation of funds.

Why are not all letting agent regulated? Well for a start you can't get into any of them as a corporate member without passing a formal exam.

Non-regulated agents should be avoided! There are too many sob stories about agents as there is!

[Chick]

Hi Poppy & Paul,
Good pointers to start me off on my research, new to this forum but I will have a good search through the lettings forum.

Thanks!
Chick

[johnboy]

Ask for a copy of their terms and conditions. And will they do all the legal stuff if it goes pear shaped or just hand it over to you.

[Surrey]

Ask for a copy of their terms and conditions. And will they do all the legal stuff if it goes pear shaped or just hand it over to you.

Just the fact that an agency is ARLA registered is no guarantee that they won't be completely useless. It's fine to make sure they are but when deciding whether to go with them you have to form your own judgement.

Do you know any other landlords in the area? Do you know any tenants? Have you been able to get a 'feel' for your two suggested agencies? Compare their terms and conditions to see which one you feel is better presented, do either agencies offer more favourable terms for you than the other? Do either of them have any special deals with people like insurance companies which gets you reduced rates on your landlord insurance? Can you negotiate their rates so that one is more favourable than the other?

The final decision is yours, you need to use everything you can in making that decision, not just one bit of info.

[Paul_f]

Surrey, you're missing the point. Non-regulated agents do not have to meet any criteria swuch as demonstrating knowledge, have proper insurance, or be able to offer legal redress through the Ombudsman Scheme. There are moves through the OFT to make all agents members of the Ombudsman Scheme, which should drastically reduce the number of incompetent agents.

An ARLA agent will be qualified by exam, so demonstrating they have proved their knowledge. Even better is somebody who has passed the NAEA Technical Award in Residential Lettings & Management, a NVQ level 3 nationally recognised award, and not easy to pass. This will get you into both ARLA and /or NAEA as full members, but as they are likely to amalgamate sooner rather than later you take your pick.

ARLA have about 1,000 members from 600 offices, NAEA have almost 6,000 members who deal in lettings from a lot more offices.

[Surrey]

Surrey, you're missing the point. Non-regulated agents do not have to meet any criteria swuch as demonstrating knowledge, have proper insurance, or be able to offer legal redress through the Ombudsman Scheme. There are moves through the OFT to make all agents members of the Ombudsman Scheme, which should drastically reduce the number of incompetent agents.

An ARLA agent will be qualified by exam, so demonstrating they have proved their knowledge. Even better is somebody who has passed the NAEA Technical Award in Residential Lettings & Management, a NVQ level 3 nationally recognised award, and not easy to pass. This will get you into both ARLA and /or NAEA as full members, but as they are likely to amalgamate sooner rather than later you take your pick.

ARLA have about 1,000 members from 600 offices, NAEA have almost 6,000 members who deal in lettings from a lot more offices.

I understand what you're getting at, but in the OP's situation if they have 2 agents who are both ARLA members, they will need to use their own personal judgement to decide which of them to go with. I do agree wholeheartedly, use an ARLA member over a non-member every time, if you are going with an agent.

But just because an agent is a member of ARLA doesn't mean that they won't make a complete dog's breakfast of things so it's not a total safety net. An exam qualification doesn't make an agent good at the job in the real world. The LL still needs to keep their eyes open and watch what's going on, not just rely on the fact that the agent is an ARLA member. Which is why I suggested other things to look at to help Chick decide which of them to go with. Other landlords in the area might have good or bad things to say about them, same with tenants. Ts & Cs might be more favourable with one than the other and there might be special deals one of them can get with insurers or rent guarantee schemes that the other agency can't.

[Amethyst]

Hi Chick

Well, I'm about to post a new thread as I can't see it on here raised by anyone else. my ARLA Agency was rubbish and closed its doors without any notice two weeks ago and left me in the lurch. What's better still is I'm in Australia.

Definitely do yoru homework as much as you can... ARLA covers you better than nothing at all that's for sure

[Lyndon]

Being an ARLA, NALS or UKALA agent is no guarantee. I cannot speak for ARLA but NALS & UKALA insist on Professional Indemnity Insurance AND Client Money Protection as a condition of membership.

I am currently helping a landlord who has problems with an ARLA agent and this is part of her problem:
"Following further correspondence with agent, I have been informed/ascertained that rent was paid in full in advance by the tenant, (though agent only passed this on to me in monthly payments) and because of this no references were obtained. The Inventory taken by the agent was only forwarded to me once having kicked up a fuss at the time of repossession. It was clear the inventory and was done several weeks prior to the stated date on the inventory, and was fundamentally inaccurate. Insurance sold to me by the agent, and paid for within my monthly agent charges, for rent protection and legal claims cover, does not apply as a/ tenant paid in advance and b/ agent had changed insurers and no legal assistance cover was indeed in place. And finally, as members of ARLA and also as per my tenancy agreement, agent should have provided arbitration service to resolve deposit dispute, but refused to. I am at a loss to explain to the small claims court why I have brought the legal action against the tenant for recompense, whilst a purpose held deposit is technically "available". Agent refuses to put in writing their reasons for withholding the deposit but insists they will only release monies based on the courts findings."

Lyndon Baker
Managing Director BakerReed Properties Limited
BakerReed Properties Limited is a firm accredited by the National Approved Letting Scheme - a Government backed accreditation scheme which offers peace of mind to landlords and tenants through the knowledge that the firm they are dealing with offers clearly defined levels of customer service.

Member of The Guild of Letting and Management
Member of The Residential Landlords Association
Member of The UK Association of Letting Agents
Member of The South West Landlords Association

lyndon@brpl.co.uk
http://www.brpl.co.uk (http://www.brpl.co.uk/)

[Paul_f]

Lyndon you probably didn't read my previous thread well enough to know that ARLA, NAEA, & RICS & NALS all have the same criteria but the first three must now be members of the Estate Agents Ombudsman Scheme so that the consumer is able to obtain redress without having to go to court, but can still do so if they are dissatisfied with the outcome.

It appears your friend has a cast iron case for a complaint to ARLA. Tell them to talk with Lesley Hunt there in the first instance.