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...
Council for Estate Agencies (CEA)
33,054 real estate agents were registered with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) as at end of August and 1,535 agencies have been awarded licences. The CEA gave an update on its operations to the media at a closed-door event on Monday, one year since its formation. The council is tasked with industry development and enforces regulations such as compulsory licensing. So far, the CEA has issued about...
More measures are being taken to raise the professionalism of the real estate agency industry. Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) on Tuesday issued two practice guidelines - Ethical Advertising and Use of Prescribed Estate Agency Agreements for Residential Transactions. The Practice Guidelines on Ethical Advertising will provide directions and establishes best practices on the use of advertisements for...
The new framework was designed to professionalise an industry whose image had been tarred by a few black sheep. Six months on, real estate firms that MediaCorp spoke to said the Council for Estate Agencies' (CEA) strict rules have reined in illegal moneylending, cashback and subletting. The prospect of losing one's licence or being suspended has been an effective deterrent, said Dennis Wee Group director...
It has been one week since the new registration regime for estate agencies and property agents came into effect. So far, 1,288 agency licences have been issued. Meanwhile, 28,766 agents have been registered, out of an estimated 32,800 applications received. Observers said the rules will clean up what was previously known as a "cowboy" industry. But some agents are unhappy as they said the process has...
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) received 151 complaints in just the first month of operations. Established on October 22, the new statutory board regulates the real estate industry and can take action against errant housing agents and agencies. On average, the council received six complaints daily between October 22 and November 28. Some were over misleading information on advertisements and...
Legislation has been passed to set up a new statutory board to regulate the real estate agency industry. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) will start operations on October 22. It will take over the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's (IRAS) role of licensing estate agents and implement a new regulatory framework...
Real estate agencies will be required to appoint a key executive officer (KEO) who will be responsible for the proper administration and overall management of the business and supervision of all their estate agents. The requirement is spelled out in the Estate Agents Bill which was introduced for a first reading in Parliament on Monday. The proposed Bill seeks to establish the Council for Estate Agencies...