Those with provisional licences given six more months to pass industry test

PROPERTY agents who have yet to pass a manda-tory industry exam by the year’s end will have six more months to do so.

The Council for Estate Agencies’ (CEA) new deadline of June 30 next year will spell respite for 2,753 provisionally licensed agents who, as of Aug 31, make up 8 per cent of some 33,000 registered property agents here.

Earlier this year, the CEA said agents who brokered at least three transactions over the last two years have up to Dec 31 to pass the Real Estate Salesperson Examination. They were given provisional licences in the meantime.

CEA’s director of licensing and investigation, Ms Purnima Shantilal, said the extension stems from the council’s acknowledgement that agents need more time.

‘The extension will thus help them to better prepare for the exam. The CEA will work with the estate agents closely to ensure that their salesmen take the exam by the deadline,’ she said.

The new deadline also applies to those sitting the Real Estate Agency Examination, which is for partners, directors and key executive officers of property agencies.

The CEA, a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development, made it mandatory for all agents and those running agencies to take proficiency exams to raise the professionalism of the industry, which was largely unregulated before the council was set up in October last year.

But property agencies said they received feedback from some agents who had problems passing the exams set in English mainly because they were not proficient in the language. The CEA said it has arranged with the Institute of Estate Agents to come up with Mandarin courses to teach agents how to pass the Real Estate Salesperson exam.

The exam is a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions testing issues such as an agent’s knowledge of property law and regulations.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said agents need to take the exam more seriously, now the CEA has given them more time to do so, as well as try to overcome the language barrier.

This is because the CEA expects agents to understand English, which is used in documents in property transactions.

‘They should not expect the CEA to keep extending the deadline. The reason the CEA has announced this extension is really because it recognises that this job is a ‘rice bowl’ for many people, so agents now have to play their part,’ he said.

The news comes as a relief to Mr Colin Zhang, 30, a property agent with real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

‘I’ve not really had the time to sit down and study for the exam, which deals a lot with property law,’ he said.

‘If not for the extension, I would have had a real headache by the year’s end. Now I have more time to study, the exam shouldn’t be a problem.’

The CEA will also conduct its first licensing and registration renewal exercise – for those who have passed the mandatory exam and whose registration expires on Dec 31 – from Oct 1 to Nov 15 and update the list of property agents registered for next year.

They are also urged to undergo six hours of continuing professional development (CPD) before March 31 next year.

CPD is a scheme to update agents and property companies on the latest government policies and real estate procedures.

The courses, which are recognised by the CEA, are conducted by vendors from the public and private sectors.

Source: Straits Times, 22nd Sept 2011

If someone acts and talks like a real estate agent, does that make him or her one?

The watchdog body here, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), is looking into so-called ‘rental coordinators’ doing the work of accredited agents – who need to first clear exams to do the job – as well as the property firms recruiting them.

The lure being dangled by some property firms is attractive commission earnings of up to $10,000 a month.

Once recruited, such coordinators are asked to call prospective tenants and arrange for viewings – in effect, acting like agents.

The CEA started work in October last year, as part of the Government’s bid to raise the industry’s professionalism through regulation and disciplinary powers.

It has become aware that, in recent months, hundreds of recruitment advertisements have been appearing on online classified websites such as gumtree.sg and sgjobsearch.com.

One such ad read: ‘Rental Coordinator acts the same role as a Real Estate Agent. Why do people prefer to be a Rental Coordinator instead of a Real Estate Agent? The answer is simply as a Rental Agent, you do not need to undergo any Real Estate Examination…’

One former property agent, who wanted to be known only as Zack, found the lure of easy money tempting, but he did not bite.

In July, the 38-year-old attended a two-hour course conducted by a property firm.

He was told to contact prospective tenants, arrange viewings and act as a middleman. Every successful transaction at which he was present would earn him half the agent’s commission. So for a co-brokered property that costs $4,000 a month to rent under a two-year contract, the coordinator could take home $1,000.

Zack’s share would be cut to 20 per cent if he was not present at the viewing.

‘Instantly, I thought something was fishy as I know how the industry works. Basically, we end up doing the agents’ job and they just turn up to collect commission, simply because they passed the exams,’ he said.

Among the 20 others who attended the same course was a 25-year-old who wanted to be known only as Mei.

‘Each of us paid $200 after the talk for a set of names and numbers to call. What worries me more is that, currently, some of the agents have gone uncontactable,’ she said.

In a statement to The Sunday Times, the CEA said that, based on the job scope, what rental coordinators are asked to do may infringe the Estate Agents Act, which came out last year.

The watchdog said it would be contacting certain property firms and investigating further.

Since Jan 1, all property agents have to be registered with the CEA to conduct real estate work.

They must have passed existing industry examinations, or brokered at least three deals in the past two years. The latter group has until the end of the year to pass the exams. If they pass, they can carry on working as agents.

Agents infringing these rules may be fined up to $75,000, or face a jail term of up to three years.

Property experts felt that the issue of coordinators needed further scrutiny.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said: ‘It’s not wrong to hire a helper but the role must be very clear. Agents should not find ways and means to be creative. If they do real estate work, they need to pass the exams.’

Dennis Wee director Chris Koh added that coordinators were a thing of the past.

He said his agents used to have coordinators who planned their itineraries, but they have been erring on the side of caution since last year.

‘When the coordinator makes the call about a property, it’s very easy to start talking about its price or facilities, but that’s an agent’s job.’

Source: Straits Times, 4th Sept 2011

From Aug 1, in publicity material such as fliers like this, property agents can no longer call themselves specialists, have to source figures properly and cannot make promises about cash premiums. — ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

PROPERTY agents will no longer be allowed to make grandiose advertising claims when new guidelines come into force in a month’s time.

They will be banned from giving themselves misleading titles such as ‘specialist’ or ‘expert’.

All figures in their publicity materials will have to be properly sourced and they will no longer be able to promise that HDB flat sellers will receive a certain cash premium.

The guidelines, which kick in on Aug 1, follow a rising number of complaints about misleading property advertisements which make exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims.

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) announced the new guidelines in a statement yesterday.

They apply to print, online and mobile phone advertisements. Agents who infringe the rules can be fined up to $75,000, suspended or have their licences revoked.

CEA’s director of regulatory control Lee Say Kee said: ‘The guidelines will provide clarity on the dos and don’ts of advertising, thereby raising professional and ethical standards in the industry.’

Some guidelines had already been spelt out in the Estate Agents Act last year, but the latest measures flesh them out in more detail.

Larger property firms told The Straits Times the move will help make sure members of the public are not misled.

Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh said: ‘The previous guidelines were still vague, and some of my agents have approached me for clarification.

‘Now at least, they can refer to the official set of rules. It’s also good to do away with terms like ‘specialists’ as there is no clear definition of it.’

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said the firm took steps in April to ensure the existing rules were followed to the letter.

‘We hired more staff to vet new marketing materials and also organised talks to educate the agents,’ he added.

Bosses of smaller firms also welcomed the new guidelines.

Ms Janice Chan, director of Asia Breeze, said: ‘It’s obvious hogwash when people promise a guaranteed sale, so this is a step in the right direction.

‘Now the question lies in how these rules are enforced.’

Mr Lee said the CEA will conduct random checks on publicity materials put up by property firms and their agents, and act on tip-offs from the public.

Some websites are already taking steps to make sure agents are really who they claim to be.

An iProperty spokesman said the company has made it compulsory for agents to display their registration numbers on its online advertisements.

The site has about 74,000 property listings from more than 14,000 agents.

House hunter Melanie Khoo, a 25-year-old creative executive, said the new guidelines could not have come at a better time as she is looking to buy a house this year.

‘The more honest the ads are, the less time I need to sift through them and check if they are legitimate. I can also make better buying decisions then,’ she said.

As well as advertising, the guidelines touch on the sale, purchase and lease of residential properties.

Since Jan 1, all property agents have had to be registered with the CEA, and since March 1, they have had to carry an Estate Agent Card which displays their name and licence number and recent photograph.

The CEA, which started work in October last year, is part of the Government’s bid to raise the industry’s professionalism through regulation and disciplinary powers.

So far, it has issued 23 letters of advice, which carry no penalty, to property firms and agents after receiving more than 100 complaints relating to misleading ads.

It took its first unregistered property agent to court earlier this month.

According to the latest published figures, there are 1,515 licensed property firms and 32,221 registered property agents in Singapore.

Anyone with information on property agents who break the rules can visit www.cea.gov.sg to file their complaints.

Source: Straits Times, 30th June 2011

THE Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) yesterday said it has misplaced 125 application forms due to an administrative oversight.

It is working with these estate agents to get them registered as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the agents have been issued provisional registrations and are allowed to practise.

The CEA also said that ‘as a gesture of goodwill’, 813 of 1,736 property agents whose applications are pending approval can act provisionally till the end of this month.

These agents either submitted their application forms after the Nov 30, 2010 deadline, or did not have their forms in order.

Another 923 agents’ applications are pending approval, but this group will not get the grace period. These are people who either did not declare criminal convictions or who gave inaccurate information on their bankruptcy status. They can re-apply or appeal to be registered.

The government agency acknowledged problems such as missing forms and registration delays, and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

The CEA was set up in October last year to police real estate agents and agencies following long-running complaints about unethical practices. It has a staff of 33 and started operations on Jan 1.

Addressing recent news reports that it was unable to cope with the workload, Ms Purnima Shantilal, CEA’s director of licensing and investigations, said a large part of the bottleneck stems from agents going to the office themselves, rather than letting their agencies handle the applications.

A total of 1,401 estate agencies have applied for registration as of Jan 7. Of these, 1,288, or 92 per cent, were approved.

Three were rejected and 48 had incomplete applications. The applications of 62 agencies are pending approval because they were submitted late.

As for individual agents, CEA received 31,288 applications, of which 28,766, or 92 per cent, were approved.

A total of 786 people were rejected for various reasons. Most had not taken CEA-endorsed exams or completed at least three property transactions over the last two years.

The rest did not meet CEA’s ‘fit and proper’ criteria. They include people with serious criminal convictions, including fraud and dishonesty, ‘in the recent past’.

CEA clarified that it considers applications from people with previous criminal convictions carefully and on a case-by-case basis.

It added that undischarged bankrupts are not automatically disqualified. Again, applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis and it has accepted the registration of undischarged bankrupts with the relevant supporting documents.

While estate agents and agency bosses were relieved that there is some reprieve for those who have not been registered, they wondered why there are still delays.

Mr Jimmy Ng, director of Premiere Realty, said his company had not been placed on CEA’s public register last week.

‘After chasing CEA and going down to their offices a few times, my company finally appeared on the website on Sunday,’ he said. ‘But the delay has caused some of my 30 agents to not be able to clinch their deals.’

Ms Janice Chan, director of Asia Breeze housing agency, said: ‘There is always a long waiting time for its hotline, and some of the staff do not seem adequately briefed.’

Others were more sympathetic, and attributed the problems to teething issues. Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh said the one-month extension should help clear the backlog.

Mr Eugene Lim, associate director at ERA Asia Pacific, the firm with the biggest number of registered agents, said it bodes well for the industry that CEA has acknowledged that it has problems and is working quickly to resolve them.

Source: STraits Times, 10 Jan 2011

Long queues at its HDB Hub office to settle licence queries, disputes

THE new statutory board in charge of regulating and licensing property agents here had a rough first day of business yesterday.

The Toa Payoh premises of the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) was thronged with people, mainly disgruntled property agents or their bosses, who had shown up to ask about licences that had yet to be issued or sort out property transaction disputes.

The machine issuing queue numbers was working overtime, and several people saw a few hours go up in smoke as they waited in line.

About 30 people were still there when The Straits Times dropped in at 5pm.

Premiere Realty chief executive Jimmy Ng was there to find out why his 30 agents, approved as practising agents last year, had yet to receive their licences.

After trying unsuccessfully to call the CEA’s hotline for two hours, he turned up at its offices in HDB Hub at 11am.

He ended up spending the afternoon there, with his number finally called four hours later – only for him to be told that more waiting was in store: It would take another three days for the CEA to process the licences.

Sounding irritated, he said: ‘I’m running a business. I have five cases on hand right now that I can’t work on because we can’t do anything until we get our licences.

‘Making us wait this long is just ridiculous. Our clients will be very unhappy with us,’ he complained.

The CEA, set up last year following long-running complaints about a lack of professionalism and unethical practices among property agents, required Singapore’s 32,800 existing property agents to register with it.

About 27,800 did so, and after the CEA had them sit and pass examinations or show they had brokered at least three deals in the past two years, it entered their names into a public online database.

Among the regulations the CEA started enforcing at the start of the new year is one that requires all agents to be licensed in order to carry out property transactions.

At what was supposed to have been the close of the business day yesterday, some people were seen dozing on the couches in the CEA’s reception area, while others stood glumly in the lift lobby comparing queue numbers.

Two counters in the reception area, a makeshift one outside and some offices at the back of the premises were handling the visitors’ queries.

HSR Property Group agent Sharon Chong, 39, who waited more than three hours for advice on a transaction dispute, said: ‘The wait is agonising, but there’s clearly a bottleneck, because they don’t have enough people to handle our queries.

‘I’m tired of waiting, but my case is urgent and I need the answer today.’

The CEA, responding to questions from The Straits Times, said it put six customer service officers and a manager on duty yesterday to handle queries on licences or accept re-submitted applications that were previously incomplete.

About 200 people showed up based on queue numbers, it said.

Said its spokesman: ‘We have placed a priority on handling licensing and registration queries, and are beefing up counter service to register those who walk in as soon as possible if they are eventually found to be eligible.’

She added that there were no plans to open more counters in the office.

Source: Straits Times, 4 Jan 2011

Nod for 1,190 property firms, 27,754 agents; public register on CEA website from Jan 1
THE newly set up Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has approved 1,190 licence applications from real estate firms as well as 27,754 registration applications for property agents, it said yesterday.

Previous estimates from the government – provided before CEA was set up – put the number of property firms and agents at 1,700 and 30,000 respectively. But industry players were expecting the number of firms and agents to fall with the establishment of the industry watchdog and stricter rules.

CEA also said that it turned down 210 applicants who do not meet the required criteria to be agents. The denied would- be agents were mainly found to have criminal records or records of offences involving fraud or dishonesty.

A public register of licensed firms and registered agents will be available on CEA’s website from Jan 1. The register will display the name, licence or registration number, the firm the agent is working for, validity period, and records of offences committed or disciplinary actions taken, if any. Recent photographs of agents will also be available for easy identification from March 1.

CEA has been receiving licensing applications from both new and existing real estate firms since Nov 1. Property firms were also required to register salespersons who meet all of CEA’s criteria by Nov 30.

Going forward, CEA will also implement a prescribed dispute resolution scheme – involving mediation and arbitration – in January. Firms are required to participate in the scheme once the consumer has elected to proceed.

The agency also clarified yesterday that estate agency work concerning land banking products will not be regulated under the Estate Agents Act 2010.

Said CEA: ‘This is because estate agents marketing land banking products are more likely to provide financial investment advice than to make representations on a property. Consumers should practice caution and exercise due diligence when investing in land banking products.’

Source: Business Times, 30 Dec 2010

Only licensed agents can work by Jan 1, in bid to up standards

COME Jan 1, Singapore’s real estate industry will mark not just a new year but a new dawn. Only licensed agents will be allowed to work, in a nationwide bid to raise the industry’s professionalism.

The industry will for the first time be regulated by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), which has been given powers to discipline agents in a sector often called a ‘cowboy town’.

But it has got its work cut out for it.

Barely two months since it began operations on Oct 22, it has already received 228 complaints as of last Friday. This works out to 114 complaints a month – higher than the average 90 complaints a month filed with the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) last year. Almost half – 47 per cent – concerned unprofessional or poor service, a big bugbear in the industry.

Speaking to the media for the first time since he was appointed CEA’s executive director, Mr Chionh Chye Khye told The Straits Times the new body’s core mission will be to raise standards.

To do this, CEA will deploy a three-pronged strategy, he revealed. The first is effective regulation. It is a balancing act for CEA, which ‘should not overregulate or be too lax in regulation’, he explained.

For example, agencies have said they fear CEA could overregulate by imposing stifling restrictions or making eligibility criteria for agents too stringent. ‘Regulation must be for better outcomes, and hence, effective regulation is key,’ Mr Chionh said.

Second, CEA aims to actively work with estate agencies as it cannot raise the industry’s standards alone. ‘(The agencies) are at the front line and can sense consumer needs and changes in trends,’ he said. Lastly, education of home buyers and sellers will be a key strategy as they come from a wide spectrum, from the less educated to the highly educated. ‘If consumers do not understand, they make errors of judgment or bad decisions and can be misled by rogue salesmen,’ he added.

CEA’s 33-strong staff will also have to deal with other complaints such as disputes over fees paid to agents, which make up 12 per cent of complaints. CEA will look into each case and will investigate if the agent is in the wrong.

As of Jan 1, it will hand out licences to agents who make the cut, and will have the power to mete out penalties such as warnings, fines and suspensions and even revoke licences. Its service will be free for consumers, said Mr Chionh.

CEA collects a registration fee from each licensed agent and estate agency.

Consumers with complaints will have to pay a mediation fee if they choose to use CEA’s dispute resolution scheme. Details on how this scheme works and the size of the fee will be released at a later date, he said.

Mr Chionh added that CEA’s inquiries, complaints and appeals come via its hotline, website, e-mail messages and walk-in public counter in Toa Payoh’s HDB Hub. It has been looking into ‘fine-tuning’ its processes.

Case executive director Seah Seng Choon told The Straits Times he was not surprised at the high number of complaints. He said given that the regulation is new and that there is greater awareness of a proper channel for consumers, ‘this number will continue to grow and might escalate before it comes down’.

He is positive, however, that the new regime will improve the professionalism of the industry in the long run. ‘Now agents are registered, they will think twice before doing something unprofessional,’ he said.

The new rules will also make it unlikely that property agents will moonlight. There are no specific records of the number of people who have a day job but work as agents in their spare time and on weekends. But, PropNex spokesman Adam Tan said, with the new rules, such agents will be unable to continue as they must be registered in a database available to the public.

Another group affected are those who have problems reading and writing in English and are unable to pass recognised industry examinations conducted in English.

Ms C.H. Lee, 40, is one such agent. She has sold some 100 properties in recent years, but only has N-level qualifications. ‘My English is poor. Property is the only thing which I can do well now so I feel uncertain about my family’s future,’ she said.

Meanwhile, the new regime has brought cheer to consumers. Home buyer Madam L.H. Goh, 51, a personal assistant, engaged an agent who failed to declare that the flat seller’s agent was his wife.

‘There was a conflict of interest and he misled me right from the start, so I’m glad CEA is able to look into this and has the power to punish unpro-fessional agents,’ she said.

Mr Chionh added that generally, agency heads and agents themselves welcomed the greater regulation. This will enable them to ‘weed out the few bad hats and upgrade the image and professional standards of the industry’, he said.

Mr Chionh is a professional civil engineer and previously held the positions of deputy secretary at the Ministry of National Development and chief executive of the Building and Construction Authority.

CEA’s vision is of a professional and trusted real estate industry, he said, adding: ”Professional’ relates to the pursuit of standards in upgrading the industry, while ‘trusted’ refers to the trust that the consumers must have in the industry.’

Source: Straits Times, 23 Dec 2010

Source: Straits Times, 23 Dec 2010

ONE applicant was once jailed for seven years for having sex with a child. Others had histories of drug trafficking, illegal money-lending, stealing and fraud-related offences.

Of the estimated 32,800 existing property agents who applied for registration with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) earlier this year, about 27,800 passed muster.

So far, CEA said it has rejected 210 applicants based on their past convictions or involvement in court cases, while others might have dropped out because of tightening regulations.

From Saturday, all new and existing agents have to be registered. It is part of the Government’s first foray into regulating and disciplining agents in the real estate industry – the sixth most-complained-about sector last year.

Those who made the cut will have their details displayed for the public on CEA’s website. Only these agents are allowed to work. The council has the authority to fine, suspend or revoke the licences of those who break the rules.

The public register will display the agent’s name, licence number and a recent photo. It will also show information on the 1,190 estate agency businesses.

Agents who have passed a recognised industry exam, such as the Common Examination for House Agents, have had their registrations approved.

CEA will also register those who have done at least three property deals over the last two years. But these agents will be granted only a one-year provisional licence and need to pass the Real Estate Salesperson (RES) exam by Dec 31 next year if they want to continue practising.

CEA is also launching a dispute resolution scheme next month.

This process aims to provide a means of resolving issues such as contractual disputes between consumers and agents. The agent involved will be compelled to participate in it.

Barely two months after it started operating, CEA has already received 228 complaints – about 114 a month.

Real estate agents and home buyers interviewed by The Straits Times welcomed the tightening of regulations.

Prospective home buyer Vanessa Chew, 26, said: ‘Many of us, either rightly or wrongly, look to real estate agents for guidance and information. The new regulations will hopefully ensure that real estate agents are in a better position to assist us and minimise any potential conflicts of interests.’

Dennis Wee Group (DWG) director Chris Koh said a ‘substantial’ number of agents still made the cut. He said measures like the standardisation of buyer and seller agreements will help improve the industry. Almost all the 2,400 agents DWG submitted to CEA qualified.

Mr Koh added: ‘The public registry will boost consumer confidence… buyers will know they are working with bona fide personnel.’

PropNex also had most of its 4,000 agents qualify. But spokesman Adam Tan said Singapore’s total number of CEA-registered agents is likely to drop, in part because of the difficulty agents possessing provisional licences might have with passing the required exams.

About 6,000 property agents have a one-year provisional licence.

Mr Tan added: ‘People who want to join the real estate industry now will have to be serious about it as a career.’

CEA said property developers and estate agents marketing land banking products are not affected by the new rules.

Source: Straits Times, 30 Dec 2010

SINGAPORE: The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) received 151 complaints in just the first month of operations.

Established on October 22, the new statutory board regulates the real estate industry and can take action against errant housing agents and agencies.

On average, the council received six complaints daily between October 22 and November 28.

Some were over misleading information on advertisements and allegations of fraud and moneylending.

There were even nine complaints from housing agents against other agents.

About half of the complaints were due to unprofessional or poor service provided by estate firms or salespersons. These include being uncontactable or late for appointments.

The council said the more serious complaints will be referred to its disciplinary committee. The public can also choose to go to consumer watchdog CASE or a mediation centre.

In an interview with Channel NewsAsia, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said he was not surprised by the number of complaints.

“Since this is the first time we are regulating in a formal way, I would expect a lot of “pent-up demand” for such an avenue for them to vent their complaints.

“I would say that the number of complaints when you first start will be high but I would expect this to taper off over time.”

He added that the council is currently sorting through the backlog of cases to determine which complaints are genuine and which can be dismissed. Some cases may need to be settled through mediation or arbitration.

Mr Mah said the main priority for the moment is to get the register of estate agents and salespersons up and running.

“The sense is that most will qualify, but there may be a small group who may not qualify. So I think they are now working through that. The real stumbling block may well be their past records, some of their recent records. So if they have various criminal records, or disciplinary records, that is the thing that may disqualify them from being a real estate agent.”

Mr Mah did not give figures on just how many housing agents have criminal records.

The council received 32,800 names as of October 22.

Property firm ERA said it submitted 4,800, of which, a hundred do not fulfil the “fit and proper” criteria as they are either undischarged bankrupts or have criminal records.

Eugene Lim, Associate Director, ERA Asia Pacific, said: “We have one salesperson, he’s currently about 40 years old, and when he was much younger, in his teens, he was involved in some fighting. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. So because of that, there was a charge against him. But in this recent exercise, any person with any past record have to declare.”

Mr Lim said those agents who are undischarged bankrupts suffered business failures. He noted that they are good salespersons and have not given the agency any trouble. Mr Lim said that should their application be turned down, ERA would appeal on their behalf.

The council said appeals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Source: Channel News Asia, 7 Dec 2010