Tag Archives: Property Agent

Huttons Property agent charged under ‘Do Not Call’ rules

Posted on 24 Sep 2014 | Comments Off on Huttons Property agent charged under ‘Do Not Call’ rules

A Huttons property agent is the second person to be charged for offences relating to the Do Not Call (DNC) requirements under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) which took effect on 2 January 2014.

In a statement, the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) said it had received complaints about unsolicited telemarketing messages advertising residential developments allegedly sent by the agent to Singapore telephone numbers that were registered with the DNC Registry.

The agent will be charged in the State Courts on Wednesday and faces up to 27 counts of contravening section 43(1) of the PDPA, relating to the obligation to check the DNC Registry before sending any telemarketing messages to Singapore telephone numbers.

According to the Commission, the real estate sector makes up about 47 percent of complaints pertaining to DNC related offences.

Leong Keng Thai, Chairman of the Commission said: “Telemarketers looking to promote their products or services to individuals with Singapore telephone numbers must abide by the DNC provisions.

“It is a frustrating experience for individuals who have registered their numbers with the DNC Registry to continue receiving unsolicited telemarketing messages, and the PDPC will take enforcement action against those who continue to ignore the rules.”

So far, the Commission has investigated more than 3,500 valid complaints against various organisations, while investigations into some 1,700 other complaints are still ongoing. These organisations are from sectors such as property, private education and retail.

Back in August, Star Zest Home Tuition and its director, Law Han Wei, were the first offenders to be fined $39,000 each. Both the agency and Law faced a total of 26 counts of contravening section 43(1) of the PDPA with 48 other similar offences taken into consideration.

Meanwhile, around 4,500 organisations have registered to check Singapore telephone numbers against the DNC Registry in order to comply with the DNC provisions.

Any person or organisation found guilty of the offence of sending unsolicited telemarketing messages to Singapore telephone numbers without checking the DNC Registry can be fined up to $10,000 per message sent.

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Fine on former estate agent reduced

Posted on 21 Jun 2014 | Comments Off on Fine on former estate agent reduced

A fine imposed on a former property agent has been reduced from $18,000 to $8,000 on appeal, after Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon agreed with the defence’s claim that it was disproportionately high, said media reports.

He also noted that the starting point for the quantum imposed by the district judge, who relied on cases involving unregistered estate agents performing the work of an estate agent, is not “entirely appropriate”.

The first to be prosecuted for moneylending offences under the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), Ghazali Mohamed Rasul was a former registered agent with PropNex Realty.

In 2011, he received a kickback of $150 from a moneylender he had introduced to a client who was having financial problems and wanted to sell his flat.

Ghazali was then charged with two counts of moneylending offences under the CEA, with four other similar charges taken into consideration.

The CEA had urged the district judge, in its written submissions on sentencing, to impose a fine of $15,000 as well as two weeks in prison for every charge. It explained that salespersons who refer their clients to moneylenders cause serious social problems as some low-income clients have little choice but to sell their properties in order to repay the high-interest loans.

But defence lawyers Andrea Gan and Derek Kang said in their written submissions that Ghazali had “absolutely no payment or commission arrangements” with the moneylender and that the payments he had received had been offered to him.

Moreover, Kang argued that the amount involved – two payments of $150 – was “extremely modest”.

He noted that Ghazali, who had been called in for a single offence, did not only pleaded guilty to such offence, he also helped the prosecution build its case against himself after voluntarily disclosing that he also made similar referrals to three other clients.

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