210 property agents barred

They had criminal records or records of offences involving fraud or dishonesty

by Esther Ng
05:55 AM Dec 30, 2010

SINGAPORE - Come Saturday, 210 property agents will not be able to practise their trade. Their applications to register with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) were rejected as they were found to have criminal records or records of offences involving fraud or dishonesty.

Under the new regulations, it will be an offence for sales persons who are not registered with the CEA to handle estate agency work.

An applicant must also not be an undischarged bankrupt, nor must he have made a composition or arrangement with his creditors.

Additionally, the applicant must not be convicted of an offence involving dishonesty or fraud.

The tighter rules are part of an effort to professionalise the industry which had, in recent times, been blighted by the unethical practices of a few rogue agents.

Some people have questioned whether the new rules go against the spirit of giving offenders a second chance, especially if the offence was committed a while ago.

However, the CEA said that it would assess applicants with criminal records on a case-by-case basis, taking into account when the offence was committed and the severity of the offence.

Manpower Government Parliamentary Committee chairman Halimah Yacob, who had spoken in Parliament previously about more stringent industry standards, suggested the CEA could issue a provisional licence and monitor with input from the real estate firm.

The CEA pointed out that the 210 rejected agents make up less than one per cent of the 27,754 salespersons registered.

In addition, it clarified that there is no fixed debarment period or life-long debarment.

Instead, the length of debarment depends on the nature and seriousness of the offence.

Propnex chief executive Mohamed Ismail told MediaCorp that three of its agents were rejected.

"If the agent has been with us for some time and there are mitigating reasons, then we'll appeal," he said.

In October, it submitted 4,500 names of agents to the CEA - 4,104 have been approved, the rest are pending approval or have dropped out, he said.

Agencies have two weeks to appeal to the CEA.

They will need to provide full details and copies of relevant documents supporting their application. CEA will notify them of its decision after reconsideration. If they are still dissatisfied with CEA's decision, they can file an appeal.

To date, 1,190 real estate firms have been given licences and 27,754 agents have been approved.

From Jan 1, a public register of licensed firms and registered agents will be available on the Council's website. And from March, the register will display photographs of agents for easy identification.

Next month, the CEA will implement a dispute resolution scheme to resolve disputes and contractual matters between consumers and estate agents.

Real estate firms are required to participate in the scheme once the consumer has elected to proceed with mediation or arbitration.

Record of 3 unsuccessful applicants
Case 1 Applicant has a history of criminal/unlicensed moneylending convictions

1992 - Theft in dwelling

1993 - Loitering with intent

1994 - Theft of motor vehicle parts (3 charges)

1999 - Unlicensed moneylender (19 charges),

2006 - Unlicensed moneylending offences (33 charges)



Case 2 Applicant has a history of criminal convictions

1994 - Entering a Protected Place without permission

1998 - Theft in dwelling

1999 - Theft as a servant

2003 - Driving vehicle without lawful authority, licence, insurance coverage and speeding

2006 - Criminal trespass

2007 - Insulting the modesty of a woman (2 charges) and criminal trespass



Case 3 Applicant is a serious sexual offender and was charged in 2004 with 10 counts of having sex with underaged girl

Source:www.todayonline.com