Tag Archives: Property Agent

Unlicensed estate agent found guilty

Posted on 6 Sep 2015 | Comments Off on Unlicensed estate agent found guilty

On 4 June 2015, Jatinder Singh s/o Gurnam Singh was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and fined $41,000, in default 164 days’ imprisonment. He was fined for three charges under the Estate Agents Act (EAA) for acting as an unlicensed estate agent on three occasions. He was sentenced to imprisonment for three Penal Code charges – two for criminal breach of trust (CBT) and one for forgery. Four charges of handling transaction monies and three similar Penal Code offences were taken into consideration for sentencing.

For the EAA offences, Jatinder represented tenants in leasing three properties in 2012 – a unit in The Sail@Marina and two HDB units located in Sengkang and East Coast. He collected commission from the tenants of the three lease transactions. Jatinder also handed transaction monies for the two transactions relating to the HDB properties.

For the Penal Code charges, one CBT charge and two forgery charges were related to the lease transaction of The Sail@Marina while another CBT charge was related to the lease transaction of the HDB unit in East Coast. The two remaining CBT charges were not related to the lease transactions in the EAA offences.

Under the EAA, an estate agent must be licensed with CEA before conducting estate agency work in Singapore. Consumers should only engage licensed estate agents and registered salespersons. CEA also advises consumers not to hand transaction monies to salespersons. Salespersons are not allowed to handle transaction monies in the sale or purchase of any property situated in Singapore and the lease of HDB property.

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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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