By Neil Rose


The Law Society is threatening legal action against a provider of the new tenancy deposit protection schemes, claiming it is putting solicitors at a competitive disadvantage to surveyors and letting agents.



From 6 April, all deposits taken by landlords for assured shorthold tenancies must be protected. The government awarded contracts to three companies to set up schemes, and the Law Society has been in negotiation with the one best suited for solicitors who regularly hold deposits - run by The Dispute Service - to become an approved body. This would entitle solicitors to a reduction in the annual £1,600 membership fee.



However, the service - which is backed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Association of Residential Letting Agents and National Association of Estate Agents - has only offered to reduce the fee to £818, rather than to £521, the fee its website states for members of self-regulatory bodies and is being charged to surveyors and letting agents.



Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said The Dispute Service should treat all professionals equally. 'It is unfair that solicitors should be charged £300 more than letting agents and surveyors to be members, particularly when the consumer protection measures provided to solicitors' clients far exceed those for other professionals. Every day this issue remains unresolved, solicitors are placed in difficulty in preparing for the implementation of the legislation. If necessary, the Law Society will go to law to protect the interests of our members.'



The Dispute Service chief executive Lawrence Greenberg stressed that it has an arm's-length relationship with its founder bodies, but added that, unlike in the case of the Law Society, it had enough data to determine the level of default and dispute their members may cause.



Saying he had been 'taken aback' by the Society's aggressive stance, Mr Greenberg added: 'We are doing our best to reach an accommodation but there is a risk for us to manage.'