Agents to appeal against OFT order

A Shropshire estate agent is to appeal against a warning order made against it by the Office of Fair Trading after a former director and a former employee had prohibition orders made against them, banning them from estate agency work.

Charles Grizzle and Luke Morris, who have now left Imperial Homes UK, have until September 25 to appeal against the ban.

An adjudicator found that Grizzle failed to disclose, to a potential purchaser promptly and in writing, that a property being marketed by the company was owned by Imperial Homes director Luke Morris.

In addition, a deposit was obtained from the purchaser, even though doing so is unlawful where an agent has a personal interest in the property, irrespective of whether or not that personal interest has been duly disclosed. The adjudicator also found that Morris and Grizzle fabricated a letter to the OFT in an attempt to conceal their actions.

The OFT has also made a warning order against the company itself. If it repeats the breaches of the legislation, it will also be banned from estate agency work.

Estate agency law requires an estate agent to disclose to clients that he has, or is seeking to acquire, a personal interest in the sale of a property. It also prevents an estate agent from seeking or receiving a deposit in respect of a property in which he has a personal interest.