The Property Redress Recenzje 122

Mediation

Although I believe the law is changing towards making some form of mediation obligatory, I would hope that mediation is not viewed as a tick-box exercise prior to giving notice to a tenant, but rather as a genuine attempt to reconcile difficulties in the landlord / tenant situation where they arise. I have permission to mention the names of my contacts in the company.

Tenant Woes

My tenant was getting increasingly behind in his rent, and despite apologies and empty promises, the situation was getting worse. I let him know that if he did not rectify the situation I would involve a mediation company as a way of moving forward. My initial contact was with Julie Ford, who listened patiently as I unburdened my woes, gave me confidence in the humanity of the organisation, a group whose ethos was clearly to help, not merely to make money.

Mediation Process

My mediator was to to be Steve Bowen. After contact, I filled in a form outlining the situation and how far I would be prepared to go to accommodate the tenant’s possible financial situation. Unfortunately, after initially agreeing to mediation and a discussion with the company and the presentation of a payment plan to consider, the tenant suddenly ceased answering emails, texts or phone calls from me or from PRS.

This is where the experience of the mediation company and the reassuring presence of Steve Bowen, who metaphorically held my hand through many frantic emails and phone calls, really came into the fore. After finally getting the tenant to come back to the negotiation table by stating the case was closed, the tenant agreed to a plan, failed to keep to it as he did not understand it ( he did not return phone calls offering clarification ), and then following a rather stark email on his legal position and through further discussion, we came up with a new plan he said he could afford. Nothing was ever too much for Steve Bowen, who gladly redrafted the new payment plan at no extra charge. All this achieved without losing a good rapport with the tenant who finally opened up about his personal and financial difficulties.

Value for Money

At the start of this review, I suggested that PRS is far from mercenary, thus offering great value for money in terms being in the capable hands of expert/experienced mediators and in terms of time spent talking and in generating letters, emails and documents. In dealing with a tenant in trouble, during unprecedented times, it is well worth remembering the words of Julie Ford, in her article forlandlordzone.co.uk (12/10/20) that a ‘minimal number of texts and emails’ to deal with rent arrears ‘can leave an already worried tenant, defensive, scared and very unwilling to engage..[but] …a basic level of personal communication can work miracles in this current climate.’ This is what PRS offer and for this reason and the above reasons, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Complained to PRS after a long long list of proven lies and deceit from Brockenhurst Estate Agents in Andover and Whitchurch. We had written and recorded proof and after getting more lies we took it to PRS. They called two days after the complaint went in to say “we can’t take your complaint any further as they have replied to you”! They don’t care, they don’t investigate and are a complete joke, waste of time and space. In fact they told me to go to the police if they had lied and clearly broken the law!! Please do not waste your time. Small time lawless, misguided company funded by small time frauds of estate agents which give proper agents a bad name. STAY CLEAR OF PRS AND BROCKENHURST.

I have good and bad things to say about PRS: I believe my case officer was quite thorough, and my managing agent was ordered to pay compensation and an apology for deficiencies in communication and unfair chasing of interest charges etc. Of course the agent appealed, but even though we both provided case law support for incorrectly sent invoice notices, the head of PRS redress , without explanation just took the member’s side. Suspicious. But I was more concerned about getting an apology, but this was biggest joke of all. The judgement clearly stated the agent should apologise for ISSUES not conducive to a good working relationship. The apology I got was ‘deeply sorry for ‘misspelling’ the street name, and understanding why this would have caused me so much distress! So all the hours of preparing my case, and the time my case officer spent all so that I could receive another sarcastic letter essentially saying how ridiculous I was to be outraged by an ‘a’ instead of an ‘e’!!! When I went back to PRS I was told that they are not in a position to dictate agents’ working practice!? Hey : what the hell are they for then? their guidelines state a member has a code of practice that must be followed. But when the agent doesn’t do so we are told ‘tough luck’ not our problem. I am now in a far worse situation because even though I had ample proof that the agent was just being a pure a******* , they now know they can get away with it. I am absolutely aghast. The speculation below that the PRS is just a club for shoddy Management agents makes a lot of sense

A complete and utter sham.....

As a tenant seeking adjudication for NDO charges they seemed to side wholly with the agent.

Not only are you not allowed contact to argue your case, your case has to be forwarded by the agent!!!!

How is this process actually legal! Avoid like Covid and seek your own claims advice

This organisation only works to lessen the liability of agents when they do something wrong. My agent terminated my contract when I was due to move in, and that resulted in costs upwards of around £500.

The "resolution" they came up with was £150. Because apparently they don't factor in costs incurred due to breach of contract? Crazy. Their "resolution" was for a delay in return of deposit and inconvenience they said. Which was hardly the issue in my case. I believe they cook up whatever they want to fit their system to fudge the statistics on their numbers of "resolutions" that they show to their committee members/MPs.

I was told that they could close the case and let me take it to small claims court, but if I did they'd state that they'd proposed the resolution of £150 and that I'd just not accepted it. Surely that would weaken my standing in any court case. By the discussions with the case assessor, I felt backed into a corner to accept the "resolution".

If they are not able to properly address a dispute relating to legal matters, and/or breach of contract, they should have referred me to the small claims court instead.

An absolute shambles. I'm £350+ down now through no fault of my own. After already having to have put up with putting all my belongings in storage, sleeping on a couch for some time, no access to my belongings and a lengthy commute day in/day out while trying to run around and find a property to rent ASAP.

IGNORE THIS ORGANISATION AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE SMALL CLAIMS COURT

I made nine numbered complaints to the PRS against my managing agent for my flat.

The PRS has a three part complaint scheme. An initial decision followed by two appeals.

One of nine numbered complaints made against my managing agent (MA) was that it failed to invite me to meetings of my Residential Management Company (RMC) including one held on 17 July
2019 for which I should have recd one month's notice. (NB The board of my RMC is elected by the leaseholders and the board then appoints the MA).

For years I have been seeking to replace the board of my RMC in order to see not only a new agent appointed but for there to be more transparency on the appointment. The requirement for more transparency is because there are credible allegations of cronyism, neopotism in respect to the appointment of the managing agent and of overcharging.

However, 80% of the apartments in my block are rented out and I have been illegally denied a copy of the owners addresses (I am legally entitled to such information). There can't be fair elections to the board of my RMC unless I can contact all owners and raise my concerns and bring cheaper quotes to their attention.

To further obstruct me I have deliberately not been invited to meetings of my RMC and have been denied my legal right to access the service charge accounts.

My MA presented on 19/9/19 its rebuttals to my complaints to PRS. In respect to my complaint that I had not been invited to the meeting of my RMC of 17/7/19, my managing agent presented a letter dated 17/SEPT/19 that had an out of date address for me (I rent out my apartment). My managing agent said this invite was proof I had been invited.

I immediately pointed out to the PRS that the supposed invite was an out of date address (and provided proof that my MA knew my address), the meeting was held in July and the supposed invite was dated two months after the meeting and that in any case I had asked for my (legal right) to be emailed an invite.

I contended the letter invite dated 19/9/19 was a botched retrospective forgery. I said an old letter had been retrieved from their database (which is why it had an out of date address) and the date altered to the date they prepared their rebuttal when it should have been dated one month before the actual hearing ie 17 June 2019.

I pointed out in subsequent extensive correspondence that the PRS had the right to expel my MA for its misrepresentation (forgery) to the PRS as well as for other deceits and chicanery in its rebuttal to the PRS regarding my other complaints.

That the PRS has the powers to expel any member of its scheme for many reasons including 'misrepresentation' is clearly stated in the 'Terms of Reference' of the PRS.

But the PRS was not having it. They repeatedly claimed that they were only some kind of voluntary arbitration service. They repeatedly ignored me pointing out they have powers to expel a member for more than just rejecting a proposed settlement.

In its stage one propsals, the PRS didn't address my complaint of not being invited to the 17/7/19 meeting.

I appealed it and their stage two settlement then dismissed my complaint on the basis that they 'have seen an invite' and I had been(therefore) invited.' They ignored that I had asked for an email invite. Was this an error by the PRS despite extensive correspondence from me that called the invite dated September a botched forgery? No, the corrupt PRS had a sting its tail.

I appealed again but in its final third stage determination the PRS altered my complaint from that I had not been invited to the meeting of 17 July to that I had (supposedly) complained of being invited late. They slapped the wrist of my MA by ordering them pay £50 compensation.

The letter dated 17/SEPT/19 is not a late invite as it is dated after I complained to the PRS of not being invited.

The PRS knows it and that's why it altered my complaint (and altered or ignored other aspects of my other complaints). They didn't want to address forgery/misrepresentation by my MA or lose income by expelling them.

FURTHER DETAILS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE SOON.

Peter Royan

Property Redress scheme is a total sham. I was landed with dud tenants by Chancellors who have retained the nearly £2k they took off me (in advance) for finding the tenant despite my incurring huge legal fees to get the tenants out - obviously, then tenancy didn't run the full year. Property Redress scheme is funded by the industry so find in its favour. No evaluation or recommendation - just lots of uploaded documents. No wonder Chancellors choose to be a member of Property Redress rather than the Ombudsman. Something really ought to be done about this industry.

We complained to thePRS about the property management agency that was supposed to take care of our home while overseas.
We found that the mediation offer coming after the first phase of the process (facts and evidence collection) was rather partial to the agency since it included unfounded statements that lacked supporting evidence. Nevertheless we found thePRS agent very willing to do the job.
We found the second phase (evaluation of the case by an anonymous case assessor) satisfying. Most claims made were investigated in view of evidence from both parties and a resolution made for each with regard to the party at fault and compensation. Even though some of the claims with regard to the tenant contractual documents were excluded as not in scope, which in our opinion were, the overall result was just, balanced and argumented to a degree it could have further served in court.

My investigation with the PRS as a Landlord against one of their agents was a total sham and this review isn't just solely about money, my dissatisfaction was the fact the agreement the PRS itself drafted was not upheld by the member and yet the case was closed. This was in spite of the fact that the Head of the PRS agreed that he too was dissatisfied with how the first verdict was concluded by the Case Officer who did not uphold the agent fully to the terms of providing receipts (and yet to this day I've yet to receive any).

This led to a 2nd investigation being opened on the basis the MHLG expressed concern about the way my case was handled and with all the evidence pinned against the agent (notably them bypassing gas safe regulations, fire safety, no tenancy deposit certficates or inventory checklists and above all no receipts provided to justify their billed expenditure), yet the case officer appointed had it closed down. The PRS cared not that their member clearly lied in their rebuttal about not having a managerial relationship with myself, yet then stated later he did and was appointed to carry out the works with hiring HIS contractors (as text and email evidence clearly displayed) yet provided bogus documents to bypass the arbitration process with two different sets of invoices that I still do not know which are the originals (with a third one submitted afterwards on the 2nd investigation to cover-up the missing £3000 that I proved was not spent on "works").

The Courts will now decide after getting a hearing approved with my excellent appointed team who are going through the evidence including the SAR that the PRS's lawyers tried to prevent from happening with a delay.

My story is due to be covered by the Observer following a journalist contacting me about my experience with the agent after writing about a couple placed in temporary accomodation that was rat infested of which the agent hired a supposed exterminator only to lay down mouse traps.

I can't say I was surprised given the agent's carelessness on hiring non certified gas engineers, dodgy plumbers and workmen whom carried out shady works on my properties with billed works not even being carried out (such as the HMO rectifications).

Totally bewildering to say the least and I will be addressing before Court as to why I still have not received any receipts (despite the PRS agreement stating the member must provide) alongside rental statements, inventory checklist and justification for all the deemed bogus invoices and contradictory rebuttals submitted to the PRS (of which they failed to address).

I raised a complaint (as a landlord) regarding an agent who failed to provide the full management service I paid for. My complaint was lengthy, detailed and supporting evidence was provided for all elements of my claim. The agent failed to respond withing the timeline given by the PRS- they subsequently allowed him further time. Ultimately, their resolution was a fraction of what I claimed for for "poor customer service and inconvenience" An absolute waste of time and I will now be pursuing matters via the Court

PRS just wasted several months of my time and all my effort. Dealmore the managing agent for my leasehold apartment in London has failed to repair a broken window which occurred in August 2018. The excuse was the contractor was failing to complete the job. I have had to give my tenant a rent reduction to avoid them moving out and me having an empty apartment with a broken that I cannot let.

I sought help from PRS in directing Dealmore to replace the contractor with a competent contractor and compensation for the direct financial loss (over GBP1800 so far). There was no finding that I had contributed in any way to the problem. Yet the PRS did nothing to put pressure on Dealmore to get the window fixed and offered GBP400 for 'inconvenience'. A complete waste of time

The PRS handled a complaint for me regarding a rogue letting agent who issued possession notice to a tenant on the wrong forms, failed to collect arrears and 'terrorised' my tenants. They also provided 'dodgy' gas certificates and generally performed badly.

Whilst the process was lengthy, the PRS were very thorough in their investigation and my complaint was upheld and compensation awarded.

I would recommend pursuing a complaint through them.

I am in the industry myself, however the properties involved are owned personally and were being managed for me around 300 miles from my location.

They are actually worse than the agent you are making a complaint. I wasted time writing up all the issues in their amateur built website that is also useless. They never read your claim, but they try to close the case after quickly chatting over the phone. I insisted I was not happy to agree on the early resolution, but they put a pressure on me to accept it and gave me false promises. I reused and said it was not fair, but they only told me I can only take it leave it and not allowed to complain. I am shocked they are allowed to operate, and even get paid for it.

I could write a book as large as War And Peace on how awful they were, and to be clear, not just on the issues of the complaint itself, but also on the whole process and handling of it. Unbelievably bad.
One even suspects that it is intended to be so. After all, they have paying members to look after.
Don't waste your time with them, go legal.

Completely useless. Immediately closed my complaint because "we do not get involved when the letting agency is doing something illegal". Why else would anyone ever need your help, I don't get it.

I share this story out of deep shock and horror and without prejudice to assist others as well as myself, this is the truth. As a leaseholder in a block of flats in England, I’ve paid my service charge, ground rent, and buildings insurance (why do I pay that, it’s not my building) on the dot every time for 16 years. The Property Redress Scheme is one of three government authorised schemes that gives consumers of the Property Agent an escalated complaints procedure if they are unhappy with how their complaint has been dealt with by the Property Agent.
My second list of challenges to The PRS I will call them (the first was successful), took approximately 5 months to resolve. The result included the most serious mistake from them. They stated that I hadn’t provided enough evidence that my flat was “uninhabitable” in response to my claim for compensation, as I had to be out of my flat for 8 days whilst the damp work was done. The plastering specification stated that four out of five rooms were being done with old plaster removed creating dust everywhere. My body has a lung disease through living here, but no-one could have lived there throughout, as the bedroom had had everything removed, the living room had some furniture under cover in a corner, the bathroom had work done right by the toilet, and the hallway had work done on it.
Before my second claim, I checked with the Leasehold Advisory service and my own private legal advice, who both conveyed that as I was entitled to quiet enjoyment as stated in my lease, and I couldn’t receive quiet enjoyment whilst away for 8 days while the freeholders repaired rising damp (from their ground) and penetrating damp (through their walls). As lease-holder I am only responsible for the inner shell. The PRS caseworker did not even check with the builders that the flat was indeed uninhabitable. No evidence was submitted to me that the flat was habitable, and no-one suggested that the flat might be habitable during the whole process.
So the kitchen was the only room that didn’t require repairs. In my appeal to the PRS, I asked them where was I supposed to sleep? Also in their proposed decision, there was also two aspects where I was successful. Decorating, back to the state it was prior to repairs, and an amount for stress, both £100 awards. I’m thankful but I told them that it is a pittance. The decision stated that I did not provide decoration receipts. Who would provide them before a

decision was made, unless asked to? It then states in their terms that the amounts awarded cannot be challenged. So you have a key final award aspect within a proposed decision. I questioned this in my appeal, is this legal?
Finally, two or three times in the decision they mentioned to take my points to a first tier tribunal. Yet they are there to assist the consumer. I believe that one of these points was to do with finishing a little outside work. It took 5 months to tell me on certain points to go somewhere else. Why not tell me that information at the outset? Customer service?
My appeal to them was not answered at all. The final decision was the award of 2 x £100.00. No other statement. In my appeal I stated that this was an official, formal complaint about the case-worker, and then additionally I made the same about the top manager who completely ignored my appeal and complaints at the final decision. My complaints stand absolutely for perpetuity until common sense prevails.
They did not appear to be connected to what actually occurred or wish to find out. I am not political, but I am incensed. The worst decisions and service that I’ve ever experienced in my Life by millions. I never give up and I require help? It is unacceptable.
If you need to go to the PRS, please note what I’ve written. I also asked them, how do consumers know that their agent is part of a government authorised redress Scheme, and do they check whether it occurs. No answer as yet. I was yet to ask whether there’s such a scheme for residential freeholders too.
Re my damp, it’s now been 23 months since I formally asked to have it done, and 2 aspects still to do. The British government needs to thoroughly renew leasehold, and leasehold extension laws (it’s almost 6 months since I requested a lease extension, no agreement yet, I have not delayed it). Totally unacceptable again.Housing is a key part of healthy living. Great if laws can be rewritten fairly for the current day. Thank you, god luck in what you do that is creative.