The new statutory board launched to regulate Singapore’s real estate industry has already received 150 complaints National Development Minister, Mah Bow Tan, has revealed. However, he is not surprised by the number, according to ChannelNewsAsia.“Since this is the first time we are regulating in a formal way, I would expect a lot of pent-up demand for such an avenue for them to vent their complaints … I would expect this to taper off over time.”
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), received an average of six complaints a day, including misleading information on advertisements and allegations of fraud and money lending, with nine complaints lodged by housing agents against their peers.
The most common complaints – accounting for about half of all complaints – were over unprofessional or poor service. Investigations can take between one and three months.
However, the CEA’s priority is to complete its register of estate agents and salespersons. As of Oct 22, the council had already received 32,800 names. Amongst those seeking registration, those with criminal records or undischarged bankrupts would be excluded and barred from working as real estate agents. However, many firms have said that they would challenge any rejections.
Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh noted that some applicants had committed offences such as drink driving which were not reflective of the agents’ current work, while HSR chief executive Patrick Liew noted that such applicants “deserve a second chance in life”.
According to CEA, the appeals would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
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