A top cop will help helm the new Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) - a regulatory body which is tasked to regulate the property agents.
Mr Soh Kee Hean, director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) since 2005, will be seconded to the Ministry of National Development (MND) to take up the position of deputy executive director (designate) of the CEA.
The new statutory board will be formed later this year and will take over the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's (Iras) role in licensing real estate agencies and their agents.
CEA will have the power to investigate consumer complaints against housing agents and agencies, and will have the authority to mete out penalties, such as suspensions and fines.
Rogue housing agents have plagued the property market of late, with the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) receiving an average of over 1,000 complaints a year.
In the first four months of this year, Case received 358 complaints. Last year, 1,079cases were brought to its attention, while the figure was 1,100 in 2008.
Complaints ranged from agents failing to give proper advice and using misleading sales tactics, to the non-honouring of agreements. There were other questionable practices, such as agents taking commissions from both buyers and sellers of flats.
There are about 25,000 real estate agents and 1,700 agencies in Singapore.
When contacted, local real estate companies welcomed the news.
ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim felt that Mr Soh's new appointment will benefit the industry, by weeding out the crooks.
He said that as 'Mr Soh comes from a background dealing with corrupt practices'; he believed the intention was to tackle the problem of 'shady agents'.
Likewise, PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail felt that this move showed the determination of the MND in ensuring that the new council 'will work effectively in upgrading the professionalism of the real estate industry'.
When contacted, Mr Soh declined to comment as he has yet to take up his new role.
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Comments:
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anonymous said...
New role for all real estate agents: jail,suspensions and fines
November 09, 2010 1:54:00 PM
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anonymous said...
there is nothing done to protect agents, except mandatory insurance being forced upon, its worse than tontine during samsui women, its blatant exploitation.
its a private sector, not a public sector service.
anyone is entitled to their own protocols and operations by their own rights to their own merits.
November 02, 2010 3:56:00 PM
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