In the News - Estate Agents

Inzo Estate Agents closes owing thousands to landlords & tenants

Fulham-based estate agents, Inzo has instructed accountants to assist them in putting the firm into liquidation, leaving thousands owed to landlords and tenants. Since the beginning of January, Plebble users have been reporting that Inzo has been late in passing on rent to landlords - in one case Inzo appears to have taken rent from tenants for 6 months without passing any to the landlord. Tenants have also been concerned whether Inzo followed their legal obligation and protected their deposits in a tenancy deposit scheme.

This is all a far cry from Inzo's vision of "pioneering a stress-free, no hassles way to buy, sell, rent and let property by combining the use of revolutionary internet technology together with good old fashioned customer service."

We have spoken to accountants for Inzo who say there will be a meeting for all people owed money by Inzo on 17 April. They will be sending out a letter to all landlords and tenants with more information and a form to fill-in and send back to detail how much Inzo owes them. As part of the liquidation process, Inzo's assets will be sold-off and the funds used to pay dividends to creditors. But it was too early in the process for the accountants to be able to comment on how much they expect to be able to recover.

Last month, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents, who work to resolve complaints against agents who are members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reported that complaints against estate agents, particularly letting agents, were at surprisingly high levels ('In the News' on 18 Mar 09). Inzo was not a member of the NAEA, nor the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) who have their own code of conduct and disciplinary procedure.

(Sources: Plebble)

AdviceCentre note:

Before using an estate agent, check they are members of the NAEA or Arla.

Posted by Plebble Admin at 13:21 on 03-Apr-2009