This one almost sneaked by... on Monday, the Office of Fair Trading launched an online register of disgraced estate agents and agencies.

The register, which can be browsed alphabetically or by date, provides a crucial tool allowing consumers to search whether the OFT has taken action against estate agents. It also provides information that can be used in order to report to the OFT suspected breaches by an estate agent of an existing warning or prohibition order.

Actually, it makes for pretty grim reading... page upon page of "offences involving fraud and other dishonesty within the meaning of section 3(1)(a)(i) of the Estate Agents Act 1979 (the Act)"; one agent was even - grab your braces - "convicted on 22 March 1989 at Norwich Crown Court of Murder, this being an offence involving violence within the meaning of section 3(1) (a) (i) of the Estate Agents Act 1979 (the Act)". That's taking your job a bit seriously, isn't it?

It's compulsive reading, and it's yours, here. But rememer, do sleep well and don't have nightmares, the number of agents scarlet lettered by OFT is small in the context of the number working on a single high street near you. I think that's comforting.

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