ST : New watchdog gets six complaints a day

Nov 19, 2010
New watchdog gets six complaints a day
By Daryl Chin

IN THE 19 days since it was set up, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has received a total of 72 complaints or about six every working day, about errant property agents.

Till Nov 10, about one in two complaints to the CEA was about unprofessional agents or the quality of service they provided.

Complaints about misrepresentation, alleged fraud, disputes on commission and bickering between agents made up the rest.

The council can now only refer complaints involving disputes on commissions and contractual matters back to the agents, who will be tasked to provide the CEA with a report within 14 days.

Said a spokesman: 'If they are unable to resolve the dispute, CEA will advise consumers to go to mediation centres such as the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) or the Singapore Mediation Centre.'

The council can also issue warning letters to errant agents for acts such as distributing fliers containing misleading information.

Beginning January next year, however, the CEA, which has a staff of 30, will start handing out licences to estate agents registered with them. Only CEA-registered agents will be allowed to transact properties.

And the council will have the authority to fine, suspend or revoke the licences of those who break the rules.

In addition, for complaints involving commission or contractual disputes, it will require estate agents to be physically present to participate in the dispute resolution process.

At present, Case can attempt to resolve the dispute only if both parties agree to do so.

If the agent does not turn up, consumers can take their grievances to the Small Claims Tribunal for further action. The process can take up to a month.

Last year, Case received 1,079 complaints against property agents for unsatisfactory service and misleading claims.

This year, it has received 961 complaints so far.

Said Case director Seah Seng Choon: 'When the CEA is able to take action next year, it will certainly speed up the dispute process. This is long overdue as estate agents have been left unregulated for too long.'

Property agencies The Straits Times spoke to said it was too early to tell how this might affect them.

PropNex, which has about 6,000 agents, receives an average of about 40 complaints monthly, most of them involving commission disputes.