Category Archives: CEA

What your salesperson should NOT do in estate agency work

Posted on 25 Nov 2013 | Comments Off on What your salesperson should NOT do in estate agency work

Under the Estate Agents Act, salespersons are not allowed to handle transaction monies for or on behalf of any party in the sale or purchase of any property situated in Singapore; and lease of HDB properties.

Examples of transaction monies:

  • Sale and purchase transaction – option fee, downpayment, stamp duties, deposits and sales proceeds
  • Lease transaction – rental deposits, monthly rentals and stamp duties.
  • Valuation fees and commissions are not transaction monies.

In the first half of 2013, CEA had charged two salespersons for handling transaction monies. Nangoi Demelza Carmelita was charged for handling transaction money for landlord and tenant. She received cash, being two months rental deposit and one month’s rent, from one of the sub-tenants on behalf of the lessee of a 2-room HDB rental flat. Similarly, she also received deposits and advance rental in cash from the tenants for two more HDB flat transactions that she facilitated.

The second case involved Mustafa Kamal Bin Seri for handling money for his clients in relation to the sale of their four-room HDB flat and the purchase of their three-room HDB flat.

Consumers are advised not to hand transaction monies to their salespersons. They should avoid using cash and to pay the rental deposit and rents directly to the landlord by crossed cheque or other verifiable means.

Source : CEA

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Owner’s consent required for property advertisements

Posted on 25 Nov 2013 | Comments Off on Owner’s consent required for property advertisements

Salespersons who advertise properties are required to comply with the Practice Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and the Code of Ethics & Professional Client Care. They must seek the consent of the owner before advertising the property. They are also not allowed to copy any advertisement from someone or somewhere else and claim it as their own. Their advertisements are to be cleared with their estate agent before publication.

Recently, a salesperson Shawn Cheah pleaded guilty to the charge of advertising a property without obtaining consent from the owner. The property owner saw the advertisement by Cheah on a website, and was aggrieved as he had not given his consent. Cheah was a registered salesperson of ECG Property Pte Ltd at the time of the offence. He was found quilty and ordered to pay financial penalty of $3,000.

CEA advises consumers to look out for the following when advertising properties:

  • Check that your salesperson only advertises the property after you have given your consent.
  • Your salesperson must ensure that the information on the advertisement is accurate. If the advertisement shows a photograph of the property, the photograph must not be altered or enhanced in any way. Essential data such as the floor area must be accurate. If a unit was approved by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for a specific use (e.g. commercial or industrial use), the salesperson must advertise it accurately.
  • Your salesperson must not advertise a property price or any other terms different from those that were instructed by you.
  • There should not be use of words or phrases that are against your best interest, such as “already co-broke”, “no co-broke”, “no agents”, “buyers pay commission”, in the advertisement as these phrases will limit the pool of potential interested parties who wish to buy/sell/lease.

For more consumer tips, visit www.cea.gov.sg/consumerresources

Source : CEA

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