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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