Client Money Protection
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 requires all property agents in England to join a government approved client money protection scheme.
This regulation came into force on 1st April 2019 and failure to belong to a scheme can result in a fine of up to £30,000.
As well as the need to belong to a scheme, The Consumer Rights Act 2015 made it a legal requirement for all letting agents to clearly display which client money protection scheme they belong to. Failure to clearly display this can result in a fine of up to £5,000.
What is Client Money Protection (CMP)?
The Client Money Protection (CMP) Scheme provides compensation for landlords and tenants when agents misuse or misappropriate their rent, security deposit or any other client funds. Should this happen and a landlord is using a letting agent who is registered with ARLA propertymark, the landlord can make a claim and Propertymark will arrange a reimbursement. Every year, unprotected landlords and tenants lose money when their funds are misappropriated.
