A new press release, suggesting that there are times when only a licensed NAEA or ARLA agent will do, has drawn fresh anger.
An angry (unlicensed) NAEA and ARLA agent said: “What the public must clearly NOT do is take advice from the thousands of NAEA and ARLA members who are subscription-paying, CMP covered, PII covered, Code of Conduct regulated, unlicensed members.”
The agent said the new release, about police crime maps, was not just divisive but ‘criminal’ as far as its members are concerned.
Another commentator separately attacked the ‘crazy’ direction in which the NAEA is going. Last week, NFoPP drew anger with its Find an Agent scheme, which emphasised the merits of Licensed agents but was silent on those of 'ordinary' ones.
Here’s the press release in full, complete with the original spelling mistake.
In response to the launch of Police Crime Map 2.0, Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA), said:
“Any measure that helps people research an area they may be moving to is a good idea in principal (sic), but this should always be used as one of a range of tools, rather than a definitive measure for making a decision about any one area.
“We would always urge prospective house buyers or tenants to seek advice from as many credible sources as possible, as well as from a licensed NAEA or ARLA agent who can provide professional and reliable insight into local areas.”
Comments
And where exactly has this press release been released, cos I havnt seen it. And if I havnt seen it, you can be sure that the public havn't seen it. Which is the whole point of a press release.
NAEA, sending PR articles to EA today every other day isn't going to bring you nationwide recognition. Nobody knows who you are. Get a clue.
Public should consult Licensed Agents, NFoPP say???
Mmmm. That means Public should NOT consult other ARLA, NAEA members and steer clear of RICS, NALS and Law Society as well.
Some of these NAEA members, such as me, have 25 years experience.
How to really win friends...... Oh well - it will save me some money in the New Year.
Nice one PBK - hope all is well on your planet
@Balalanced View
".....The NAEA are addressing the lack of public awareness, and as it is a relatively new initiative, it will take some time to filter through.....".
Really! They have had YEARS to do this and have singularly failed to do so - I have no confidence that anything will change as events have now overtaken them.
They are all self promoting, self indulged, money making ‘quangos’, can’t anyone see this?
We heve the Ombudsman Scheme. Give it teeth and get rid of the money grabbing quangos.
Financial services have FSA to regulate them....
The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; fighting financial crime; and contributing to the protection and enhancement of the stability of the UK financial system.
We don’t need 6 or 7 bodies handing out memberships and qualifications, we need to beef up the top of the shop and get a grip.
Me? Im for RICS (if anyone asks).
Why are NALS so quiet on this? Should they not be publicising the fact that their members became "Licenced" over a year ago?
The public are not "Fully aware"? I would say the public have no clue whatsoever about who RICS or NAEA are.
Unless they have a budget of millions to advertise on TV etc, all these bodies and licenesing non sense is absolutely useless.
@Ray Evans
From what I have read, the public are not fully aware yet of the differences, a situation which the non-licensed agents would seem to prefer to remain the case. The NAEA are addressing the lack of public awareness, and as it is a relatively new initiative, it will take some time to filter through.
On a point of principle, should not the estate agency profession and its stakeholders be encouraging PPDs and their professional body to constantly strive to raise the standards of customer expectation within the profession, and not seek to attack their professional body for trying to do that?
@Balanced View
There is nothing 'balanced' in the NAEA/ARLA approach to the GENERAL public. One would have to have a qualification in private detective work to even start to know what is what!
A NAEA licensed estate AGENCY is where the firm has at least one NAEA qualified member in each branch. A licensed estate AGENT is one person who holds a NAEA qualification/membership, but who may also be the only qualified employee in an otherwise unlicensed and unregulated firm.
If a member of the public wants the reassurance that a whole firm has taken the initiative to employ/train and qualify at least one NAEA member per branch, he or she may find the ability to search and find a licensed estate AGENCY of interest. It seems the NAEA merely seek to offer to the public that, if employing a licensed firm is of importance to them, they can use the website to select an estate agency firm who have employed or put through the qualification process, at least one member of staff from each of their branches.
Otherwise, they can just check if the individual estate agent they are dealing with is a NAEA member.
Simples.
I admit to be ignorant of this organisation's rules. What is the difference between a “Licensed and non” agent at the NAEA, higher subs, more worthless initials, age???