Tag Archives: Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care

Agent punished for misleading potential buyer

Posted on 6 Sep 2015 | Comments Off on Agent punished for misleading potential buyer

Registered salesperson, Ho Wee Chun, Eugene, was disciplined for misleading a potential buyer that her offer was rejected, bringing disrepute to the real estate agency industry. At the time of offences, Ho was a salesperson with PropNex Realty Pte. Ltd.

Ho represented the potential buyer in purchasing a property and conveyed her offered price to the seller’s salesperson. However, before getting a response, Ho informed the potential buyer that her offer was rejected, when in fact it was still being considered.

After the seller’s salesperson informed Ho that the potential buyer’s offer had been accepted, Ho did not update the potential buyer. Instead, he tried to get her to increase her offer. She requested Ho to notify the seller that she would take up a bridging loan in order to raise her offer. In exchange, she wanted a longer period of four weeks to exercise the Option to Purchase. Ho then misled the potential buyer that he had informed the seller’s salesperson of her request, when this was not the case.

Subsequently, Ho avoided all attempts by the potential buyer to contact him. He then liaised with a salesperson from his own estate agent to purchase the property at the same price offered by the potential buyer. He represented his colleague to deliver the cheque and offer letter to the seller’s salesperson.

Ho then informed the potential buyer that the property had been taken. He misled her to believe that his colleague had marketed and closed the transaction for the eventual buyer, when he was the one who had done so.

Ho has brought disrepute to the estate agency industry, which is a breach of the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care. He was sentenced to a financial penalty of $11,000 and a suspension of seven months, with two other suspensions of six months and one month running concurrently. He was also ordered to pay fixed costs of $1,000.

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Two salespersons disciplined for bypassing landlord’s salesperson

Posted on 7 May 2015 | Comments Off on Two salespersons disciplined for bypassing landlord’s salesperson

Two salespersons, Goh Seow Guan, Vincent and Chua Say Siong, Eric were disciplined for misleading acts in an attempt to bypass the landlord’s salesperson, bringing disrepute to the estate agency industry.

Goh represented a tenant who was interested in renting a property. He contacted the landlord’s salesperson to arrange for a viewing and agreed to co-broke with him for the potential rental transaction. Later, Goh’s client made an offer which was conveyed to the landlord through her salesperson and the landlord counter-offered. Goh’s client then made another offer to rent the property at $8,500 per month if the landlord was agreeable to pay $1,500 to repair certain defects.

Instead of conveying the offer to the landlord’s salesperson, Goh decided to bypass him and asked his colleague Chua to call the landlord to close the transaction. Chua pretended that he had an interested tenant for the property and conveyed the same offer that Goh’s client had proposed.

Upon reviewing the profile of Chua’s prospective tenant, the landlord became suspicious that this tenant was the same person as Goh’s client. Although Chua denied it when asked, the landlord discovered that the tenant was indeed Goh’s client when she met up with him. The landlord informed her salesperson that he had been bypassed, and the salesperson filed a complaint to Goh’s and Chua’s estate agent.

The estate agent subsequently conducted investigations. When asked, Goh and Chua misrepresented to their director that they had come to know of the prospective tenant independently.

For bypassing the landlord’s salesperson even though having agreed to co-broke and lying to a director of his estate agent, Goh has brought disrepute to the estate agency industry, a breach of the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care (CEPCC). He was sentenced to a total financial penalty of $3,000 and four months’ suspension, with a two months’ suspension running concurrently.

Chua was convicted of bypassing the landlord’s salesperson, lying to the landlord about the identity of the prospective tenant and lying to a director of his estate agent. He was sentenced to a total financial penalty of $5,000 and four months’ suspension, with another three months’ and two months’ suspension running concurrently.

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