CEA | Lush Dream Home

A PROPERTY agent, jailed a year and 10 months by a district court in July for absconding with $69,500 of her client’s money, lost her appeal against conviction on Friday.

Serene Poh Kim Kheng was ordered to start her jail term next Thursday.

Poh, 35, was convicted of criminal breach of trust and sentenced by a district court on July 31.

She committed the offence soon after buying a four-room Tampines flat from Madam Ang Suan, 49.

Dismissing her appeal, Justice Choo Han Teck allowed Poh to start her jail term next week to allow her to make arrangements for an eye operastion for her mother in November.

Source : Straits Times – 16 Oct 2009

Sellers can try mystery caller test to check on their property agents

Posted on 14 Oct 2009 | Comments Off

WE THANK Ms Kwok Yoke Pui for her Forum Online letter yesterday, ‘Commissions and property agents’.

The Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies’ (SAEA) position expressed in an earlier letter last Friday (’1 agent for buyer, seller: OK, but get written consent’) was that if sellers and buyers wish to appoint estate agents to assist them in their HDB resale transactions, they should be separately represented by estate agents of their choice to avoid a situation of conflict of interest.

An estate agent should act and collect commission only from one party to the transaction, who could either be the seller or the buyer. We had then suggested an exception to permit dual agency if the sellers and buyers are both aware and consent to the appointment of the same agent, preferably in writing. Such a practice, including separate agents of the same agency acting in the same transaction, for example, can be found in some states of the real estate industry in the United States. Continue reading →