Letting agents - Unethical behaviour

How does Resolver work?

Free forever

Resolver is free. Just raise a case and leave feedback after. Simple! We’ve helped millions of people find a resolution. Get started now and let’s get this sorted.

Know your rights

There’s no jargon in our rights guides. Instead, they’re full of the info you need to get things sorted. We’ll always be on hand with guidance and support to help you get the results you’re looking for.

Get your voice heard

You can be certain that you’re talking to the right person at the right time. We automatically connect you to contacts at thousands of household names, ombudsmen and regulators to find a resolution.

Rights guide: unethical behaviour

Your letting agent should provide a polite, fair and efficient service and give you accurate and truthful information. If you have a complaint about unethical behaviour by a letting agent your first step should be to speak to the agent directly. Explain the situation and give them an opportunity to put things right.

You may also want to contact your landlord directly and make them aware of your complaint.

Making a complaint

If you are not happy with their response, email the manager of the letting agent via resolver, including copies of relevant documents, correspondence and notes or recordings of any calls. Explain your issue and what you want them to do about it. You may also want to contact your landlord directly and make them aware of your complaint.

Request a copy of your letting agent’s complaints policy and code of conduct and ask for confirmation of who will be handling your complaint. Your agent should respond promptly.

How resolver will help

Resolver will record all your emails and phone calls automatically and for free. At each stage of the process it knows who to escalate your case to within the company and when to do this.

If you are not satisfied

If you are not satisfied with your agent’s response or they don’t resolve the issue within eight weeks your complaint can be sent to the relevant Ombudsman scheme. resolver will remind you when to escalate your case and tell you which scheme to contact.

Your case file will be sent over as a package including copies of all relevant correspondence, supporting documents that you have uploaded and phone calls you have made. You should ask the letting agent’s permission before you send recordings of phone calls.

Is there a deadline for contacting the Ombudsman?

All complaints must be referred to the Property Ombudsman or Property Redress Scheme within six months of receiving your letting agent’s final response. All complaints must be referred to the Ombudsman Service: Property within nine months of your first complaint.

Be aware

If you do not pay your rent or other fees that are due your letting agent has a legal right to take you to court, even if you have referred your complaint to the Ombudsman. If the agent begins legal action against you the Ombudsman may not be able to continue to investigate your complaint.

Your final option

If the letting agent is a member of Propertymark it is bound by their codes of practice. After receiving a decision from the Ombudsman you can refer the agent to Propertymark who will investigate the agent’s professional conduct and could impose a fine. If the Agent is a member resolver will give you this option automatically.

You may need to fill in a copy of their consumer complaint form and send them a copy of your resolver case file. You should also include a copy of the Ombudsman’s findings and copies of supporting documents.

If you believe your letting agent has acted illegally you can seek legal advice or report them to your local Trading Standards Service.

Complaining about your landlord

If you rent your property directly from a private landlord or a housing association and have a complaint there are some steps you can take.

If you rent your property from your local council, you can report the issue via resolver. Search for your local council on the main menu.

Step 1

Contact your landlord and make them aware of the problem. If you raise the issue by phone or face-to-face, you should follow this up with a letter or email.

If the problem is not resolved you can make a formal complaint to your landlord. Ask your landlord to provide a copy of their complaints policy if they have one. You should follow the steps set out in the complaints policy.

Step 2

If your landlord doesn’t resolve the complaint, you can refer your complaint to a ‘designated person’. This could be your MP, a local councillor or a tenant panel. The Housing Ombudsman has information about finding a designated person. See http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/directory/designated-persons/#.VFuuZL5DARk.

Step 3

If your landlord doesn’t resolve your complaint within 8 weeks you can contact the Housing Ombudsman. You can report your complaint using the Ombudsman’s online form: http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/complaint-form/. You can also get advice from the Ombudsman on 0300 111 3000.

The Ombudsman can only deal with complaints relating to members of the scheme. All housing associations are members of the Ombudsman and some private landlords are members.

If you need advice

If you need any assistance or guidance regarding your issue you can contact Citizens Advice on 08444 111 444 or Shelter www.shelter.org.uk.

If you need to submit your issue use resolver for free

Find the best rights for you

We have 5,115 pages of rights advice for you covering 10,878 companies and organisations across 16 public & private sectors. Feel free to browse companies for this specific issue - they're all listed below - but the quickest way to find the best rights for you is by using our unique Rights Finder to access our extensive database of advice.

Start by telling us the name of the company or organisation you have an issue with.

Who do you have an issue with?

Raise it for free via Resolver

Helping you with Unethical behaviour

Resolver covers the issue Unethical Behaviour for 117 companies and organisations:

a  b  c  d   e  f  g  h  i  j  k  l  m  n  o  p  q   r  s  t  u   v  w  x   y  z