- Mias Calls for Better Regulation of Estate Agents

Thursday, 09th February 2012

home about authors news books xml feed sitemap privacy contact us

There are 15 users online

Mortgages
Agents and Brokers
Commercial Real Estate
General
Home Buyers
Home Furnishings / Interiors
Home Owners
Home Related Services
International Real Estate
Local Real Estate News
Property Maintenance
Property Sellers
Real Estate Education
Real Estate Industry
Real Estate Investing
Real Estate Law
Rental and Income Property
Retirement-Senior Housing

Our Newsletter

Subscribe
Unsubscribe

Voting Poll

If you had $20,000 to spend, which room would you do a makeover on?
	Bathroom
	Family Room
	Kitchen
	Living Room
	Master Bedroom
	Other Bedroom
	Outdoor Kitchen

Other Resources

For other sources of real-estate news, tips, and information, visit our resources page

Submit an Article

Would you like to have your article posted? Click Here

Mias Calls for Better Regulation of Estate Agents
Added: 03/30/2006 Type: Summary Viewed: 581 time(s) [ Not Rated Yet ]

How would you rate this article: Bad Good Go »

Printer Friendly Version

Mias Calls for Better Regulation of Estate Agents

MIAS (the Mortgage and Insurance Advisory Service) was alarmed by the findings of the BBC Whistleblower documentary, in which undercover reporters revealed the secret world of estate agents’ unscrupulous practices.

Working in several estate agencies in London, the team uncovered some shocking methods of working, including misleading surveyors about property prices and – in the case of Foxtons – working closely with mortgage advisers at Alexander Hall to discuss potential buyers’ budgets without their prior consent, in order to get as much money out of them as possible (In response to the reports of the Whistleblower programme, Foxtons said: “Foxtons Limited and Alexander Hall Limited pride themselves on the professionalism and transparency of their respective businesses and have the utmost respect for the needs of its clients and will always act in the clients’ best interests.”).

Commenting, Alistair Good, Managing Director of MIAS mortgage brokers UK (http://www.mias-ltd.co.uk), said: “MIAS condemns such behaviour and has welcomed the programme for highlighting the need for the sector to be regulated.”

He added: “While we appreciate that only a minority of estate agents and brokers behave in this manner, the programme did reflect the experiences of a number of our clients”.

Commenting, Roger Milbourn, Director of MIAS said: We feel that the Office of Fair Trading’s code of practice is insufficient to deter such dirty tricks, in what is a largely unregulated industry. To ensure that customers are fairly treated in this high-pressure sales environment, we would urge the industry to introduce a qualification for estate agents, as is the case in the United States.”

Concluding, Roger Milbourn said: “Watching this shocking programme, we could not help but reach the same conclusion as the BBC reporter – that estate agents should be required to have a qualification other than a sharp suit.”

Article Pages: 1

Article Comments

Add Comment |

View All (0)

There are currently no comments for this article.

Advanced Search