The authorities are getting tougher on errant estate agencies and agents.
Industry watchdog, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has formed an Inspection and Compliance Section – aimed at detecting infringements and unethical behaviours.
Executive director of CEA, Chionh Chye Khye said: “Staff will carry out inspection and compliance checks to ensure that estate agents have in place proper systems for management and supervision of salepersons, complaint handling, advertisement control and maintenance of proper records.”
Mr Chionh was speaking at an inaugural seminar for key executive officers of property firms in Singapore.
He said that as of end-September, CEA has received 1,239 complaints this year – an average of five complaints a day.
Being a customer-oriented industry, Mr Chionh said estate agencies should treat all complaints as customer feedback and strive to improve their frontline services.
He added that further training of property agents in service delivery, managing expectations and handling difficult customers will help.
A nation-wide survey was announced at the seminar Tuesday morning.
The survey is to gauge public perception of the real estate agency industry.
It will cover four areas, including consumer satisfaction and expectations.
CEA said 2,100 consumers are expected to be interviewed face-to-face, and 1,500 industry players will be interviewed over email.
The real estate agency industry generated more than S$1.25 billion in commissions earned from property transactions last year.
As of end-September, there are more than 1,500 licensed estate firms and 33,000 agents registered with CEA.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 18 Oct 2011