ST : Housing agent cheated foreigners in rental scam

08 Feb 2011,
Housing agent cheated foreigners in rental scam
By Khushwant Singh

A FORMER housing agent who cheated 31 foreigners out of a total of $75,750 in a string of rental scams was jailed for two years yesterday as a deterrent to other would-be con artists.

Admond Huang Weilun, 24, was given the sentence after the prosecution urged the judge not to be lenient, on the grounds that scams of this kind are on the increase and must be stamped out.

There were 231 cases last year, 40 more than in 2009, the court heard.

District Judge John Ng agreed, saying that rental scams are very easy to carry out and the victims are especially vulnerable.

Huang pleaded guilty to nine charges of colluding with accomplices to falsely offer flats for rent and collecting advance payments. Another 25 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The flats used in the rental scam were in Ang Mo Kio, Marsiling, North Bridge Road, Sengkang, Toa Payoh and Henderson Road, and were owned by some of Huang's 13 accomplices. They would be offered for rent on the Internet.

In one case last May, Huang met Indian national Sharoff S.K. Setty, who had expressed an interest in the advertised flat at Rivervale Walk in Sengkang.

The flat belonged to an accomplice, Ng Phak Bee, 54, who asked for a monthly rental of $1,400.

Also present at the meeting was Tan Boon Hua, 39, who was described in court as the mastermind of the cheating operation.

Tan and Ng then collected $3,450 from Mr Setty as payment for rental fees and agent's commission. They split the money with Huang, and the trio then failed to answer calls from the foreigner.

Huang's victims included citizens from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Ng was sentenced to nine months in prison last year, while Tan was jailed for three years.

Five other accomplices received jail terms of between a year and 31/2 years, while a sixth was sentenced to six years of corrective training as he was a recalcitrant offender.

The cases of the remaining accomplices are pending.

Pleading for leniency for Huang, who has never been in trouble with the law before, defence counsel S. Balamurugan said that his client was young and deserved a second chance.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Khoo said the courts have considered rental scams as a particularly egregious form of cheating, and the offence is all the more reprehensible when committed by a housing agent.

Huang could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined up to $10,000 for each charge.



Huang pleaded guilty to nine charges of falsely offering flats for rent to foreigners and collecting advance payments. He received a sentence of two years in jail.

ST Forum : Agent's application was late and incomplete

01 Feb 2011,
Agent's application was late and incomplete

I REFER to Mr Yak Kiat Song's letter ('Slow-coach regulator'; Jan 20) about his company's licence application.

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) had earlier informed estate agents to submit their licence applications early by Nov 30 last year to avoid any delay in obtaining their licences. Applications received after the deadline may not be registered on time.

The CEA received Mr Yak's estate agent licence application on Dec 3. Moreover, it was incomplete, as he did not include an important document in his application. We promptly informed Mr Yak of this, and he later submitted the required documents to the CEA on Dec 14.

With all documents in place, the CEA has processed his application. We have informed him that his company has been granted a three-year licence.

Yeap Soon Teck

Deputy Director (Licensing)

Council for Estate Agencies

ST : CEA not up to the task

15 JAN 2011,
CEA not up to the task

I READ with concern about how the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) is treating application forms for its licence ("125 estate agents' application forms missing"; Monday).

It has managed to lose 125 application forms, tarry on 813 forms for which it has given "provisional approval", and sit on 923 forms from applicants who did not disclose past antecedents.

Each application form represents the livelihood of an individual who may be a family's sole breadwinner.

Not granting the licence or not granting it on time will have an impact on all the family members.

It makes one wonder if the CEA is up to undertaking the task it has assumed.

Was it too ambitious to set up the agency in October last year and expect things to be sorted out by the end of last year? How does the CEA explain to the households affected that it is overloaded with work and under-staffed? Was this not foreseeable? Couldn't early steps have been taken to alleviate its manpower shortage?

As for those agents with criminal track records, was the guideline properly drawn up as to who might be accepted and who will not? If an agent had committed a crime 10 years ago but has been successfully practising as an agent for the last 10 years without any complaints from the public, will he still be prohibited from practising as an agent?

Is the CEA guideline made known beforehand so that all those who are affected might know where they stand and may not incur expenses and time in taking the requisite examinations?

Dealing with each application on a case-by-case basis, with no proper guidelines or training and with inadequate staff, points to more delays.

The CEA is clearly unprepared and inadequately equipped to deal with the applications.

Chan Chow Seng

ST : Property agent loses 'commission' suit

15 JAN 2011,
Property agent loses 'commission' suit

A PROPERTY agent who sued a buyer for $437,870 that she said he owed her as a commission has had her claim dismissed by the High Court.

Ms Agnes Foo helped Mr Ho Kiau Seng buy 11 apartments for $37 million in all. She claimed he agreed to pay her $437,870 for helping him get a 'good price'.

Mr Ho, 65, argued that although he had verbally agreed to pay her a commission, he had done so on the condition that she would resell the flats for him. This did not happen.

He had also been under the impression that she would get a commission from the seller.

Justice Lee Seiu Kin threw out Ms Foo's claim earlier this week. He also ordered her to hand back the $165,956 that Mr Ho had given her for her expenses.

The judge noted that it was 'unusual' for a housing agent to collect a commission from the buyer when she was expected to get her due from the seller.

Ms Foo was helping to market a housing project in Buckley Road near Newton in 2007 when she met Mr Ho, the managing director of steel products firm Leong Jin Corporation.

Three months later, he signed a deal to buy 11 units at the project, in his personal capacity.

He then made two payouts to Ms Foo over a period of nine months, for a total of $165,956.

They had different explanations for the payments. Ms Foo claimed they were partial payments of her commission. Mr Ho said they were advances for her expenses, made at her request.

Ms Foo, defended by lawyer John Tan, claimed that Mr Ho had agreed to pay a sum equivalent to 30 per cent of the savings she had obtained for him. This worked out to $437,870.

Mr Ho, defended by lawyers Hee Theng Fong and Sim Mei Ling from KhattarWong, denied making any such agreement.

Justice Lee said in his grounds of judgment that although Mr Ho had agreed to pay a commission to Ms Foo, the sums were not agreed upon until after the option to buy had been clinched.

There was no formula

ST : Cashback scam: Agent's jail term cut to two weeks

Nov 20, 2010

Cashback scam: Agent's jail term cut to two weeks

A PROPERTY agent convicted of taking part in a cashback scam had his one-month jail sentence reduced to two weeks and a $1,000 fine yesterday.

Francis Clinton Wong Chee Meng, 39, was acting for a flat seller when former agent Nick Goh Chong Liang approached him and convinced him to take part in the plot.

When police started investigating, Goh - who was running the scam with two others, including fugitive lawyer David Rasif - told Wong not to implicate him, and threatened to take revenge on him if he did.

Wong then lied to the police, saying the buyer's agent had suggested the scam. He was sentenced in June to two weeks in jail for cheating and one month for giving police false information. The two terms were concurrent.

He appealed, and the High Court yesterday reduced his sentence for giving false information to a $1,000 fine. His appeal against the sentence for cheating was dismissed.

In cutting Wong's sentence, Justice Steven Chong noted the threats he had received from Goh in 2005. Wong had no other probable motivation for lying to the police, he said.

Goh, 37, hatched the cashback scam in 2003 with Rasif - who is still on the run after siphoning off $11 million of his clients' money - and fellow lawyer David Tan Hock Boon, 40.

It involved convincing flat sellers to declare an inflated amount above the actual agreed purchase price. The banks would then be deceived into issuing higher mortgage loans to the buyers.

Wong was accused of cheating Standard Chartered Bank into believing that the purchase price of a Yishun flat was $250,000 when it was actually $203,000. This resulted in the bank giving a $187,500 loan to the buyer.

Wong then convinced the seller to transfer the $47,000 'cashback' - the difference between the real price and the inflated one - to a shell company set up by Goh, saying it was a requirement by the buyer.

Goh was jailed for five years and five months in 2007.

Tan was jailed for five years in 2008.

SELINA LUM

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.

ST : Husband and wife sold on real estate

Nov 14, 2010

me & my money

Husband and wife sold on real estate

Their team of property agents is doing so well that they can live on passive income alone

By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent



Mr Kelvin Fong and his wife Janet at home with their daughters, Chloe (left) and Carlyn. The passive income generated by the commissions from their PropNex team of agents allows them to spend more time together as a family. -- ST PHOTO: MARYANNE TAN

In 2007, Mr Kelvin Fong and his wife Janet Lim - both real estate agents with PropNex - achieved their first million in sales commissions.

Mr Fong, a senior associate district director, went on to become the No. 1 team leader a year later when his team of 1,200 agents earned $13 million in commissions. His team, Power Negotiators, brought in $28 million last year, which ensured his reign as the No. 1 team leader.

Mr Fong, 35, now earns as much as $30,000 a month in passive income from overriding commissions from his team.

But in 2001, he didn't even have $5,000 to pay for the cash portion of the downpayment for his matrimonial home, a four-room HDB flat in Woodlands. He resorted to borrowing the amount from his father-in-law. The loan was repaid in instalments by 2003.

The purchase of the flat led the couple to become property agents. In an effort to earn extra income, they started out as part-time telemarketers for property agents in 2001. Madam Lim, now 36, became an agent a year later and Mr Fong followed suit in 2003, leaving the air force where he had served for six years.

An electrical engineering graduate from Singapore Polytechnic, he studied part-time while in the air force and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2001 from La Trobe University, Australia.The couple now have two daughters, four-year-old Chloe and 11/2-year-old Carlyn.

Q Are you a spender or saver?

Because of my childhood experiences, I'm very careful with my money and I don't spend on unnecessary things. I believe in investing in assets that will grow.

However, I do set aside some money for family holidays, so I can spend quality time with my family after working so hard. I save about 30 per cent of my income for cash flow and invest 50 per cent in various investment vehicles, including my businesses, and spend the rest.

Q How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?

I charge about $10,000 a month to my cards. I have four cards and I pay my bills in full` every month. I withdraw about $500 a week from the ATM.

Q What financial planning have you done for yourself?

The team (Power Negotiators) in PropNex is an investment that my wife and I have built up together. It has helped us generate a good flow of passive income monthly so that we can choose not to do any sales.

Janet and I love this job so much that we will continue to serve our personal clients. We've spent $150,000 promoting the team since 2004.

I also bought insurance to provide my family with sufficient protection. I have two whole-life plans and one endowment policy. The yearly premiums are about $14,000. When they mature, the projected amount is about $1.5 million.

We've about $160,000 invested in stocks, mostly blue chips such as CapitaLand and SGX. Recently, I invested $50,000 in education and training firm Zest Consultants with some partners. The firm aims to teach property investors to be more knowledgeable in real estate investing.

Q Moneywise, what were your growing-up years like?

I am an only child. About a month after I was born, my parents placed me with my grandparents who brought me up until I was 21 years old. I grew up in a three-room HDB flat in Commonwealth with my grandparents.

My parents had to make a living so they couldn't take care of me. I saw them only on weekends when they visited me after work.

That made me realise the value of money. My father was working in a photo shop as an assistant and my mother was a waitress. I would go to my parents' three-room HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio once a week.

I was an independent child. I worked during my school holidays to earn my own pocket money and saved up for a rainy day. I took a bank loan to finance my part-time degree course during my days as a regular in the air force. I guess this is why I believe so strongly in investments.

Q Please share some property tips.

One of the key points in making a sound property investment is knowing what you can afford after taking into consideration the capital gain and rental yield potential.

I advise my clients on committing to a sale or purchase only after I have worked out their risk factors and potential profit gain.

It does not matter whether the property has a 99-year lease or is freehold. The most important factor is the location as land is scarce here.

Good properties at good locations will always have strong potential upside even during a downturn. Their prices may drop but when the market rebounds, they will be the first to move upwards in price compared to others.

One analysis that I do for my clients is to chart the history of the property. This helps me to see what the upside is and whether it is worth it to buy or sell.

Q What property do you own?

I own a four-room HDB flat in Rochor. We bought it for $313,000 in end-2006 and it should be worth more than $500,000 now. I can't buy private property now as I had taken a $40,000 grant to buy my HDB flat. I can invest in private property only after I have lived in the flat for more than five years.

I bought my parents a 1,033 sq ft unit in Balmoral Road for $1.7million in March as I want to enrol my daughter in Singapore Chinese Girls' School nearby. It will be more convenient for her and my parents as they are helping to take care of her. The value of the property remains the same.

Other properties that I bought for my parents include a 980 sq ft apartment at Tessarina in Bukit Timah. I bought it for $1 million and sold it for $1.1 million.

Another good deal was a 1,055 sq ft apartment at Robertson 100 which I bought for $1.15 million and sold for $1.48 million. Both properties were bought and sold in 2007.

Q What's the most extravagant thing you have bought?

In 2008, I bought an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore watch worth $35,000 for my wife for Christmas. It is a woman's watch and is limited to 100 pieces.

Q What's your retirement plan?

My retirement plan is to have a strong flow of passive income from my team and accumulate assets that will also generate passive income.

I believe that if my investment channels can provide us with $30,000 in passive income per month, it will be sufficient for my family. I want to spend more time travelling with my family.

My target is to achieve a consistent flow of passive income of $30,000 when I'm 40.

Q Home is now...

My Rochor flat.

Q I drive....

A black Audi A6.

lorna@sph.com.sg


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WORST AND BEST BETS

Q My worst investment to date...

My worst investment was buying 40 lots of a penny stock (Advance SCT) in 2007 based on hearsay.

It was trading at 40 cents per share then. I did not understand what I was buying nor did I check the historical performance of the stock.

Now the stock is worth less than five cents.

The lesson I learnt is that we must understand the fundamentals of the stock, instead of relying solely on tips. I'm still holding on to the stock.

Q My best investment to date...

My best investment to date is this job as it has helped Janet and myself achieve our first million at the age of 32 - something which both of us never imagined was possible.

Janet was the No. 1 producer last year at PropNex. She also received the IEA (Institute of Estate Agents) Top Achiever Award 2009.

The next best investment is my team in PropNex - Powerful Negotiators.

We have been the No.1 team since 2008, thanks to my dedicated team leaders and members.

Our team's group sales in terms of commissions have been growing since 2007, from $10 million to $13million in 2008 to $28million last year.

We have already achieved more than $28million this year.

ST : Weeding out rogue property agents

Nov 3, 2010

Weeding out rogue property agents

IT WILL take a few years before new rules aimed at weeding out rogue property agents drive down the number of complaints, the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) said yesterday.

Case director Seah Seng Choon made the prediction as it emerged that property agents are among the 10 most-complained-about professions here. A code of conduct for the industry, announced last month, is being enforced by a new statutory body, the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA).

Mr Seah said: 'It'll take a few years for agents and consumers to be more familiar with the rules. That's when I expect the complaints to go down.'

He was speaking at a PropNex Realty convention at Suntec convention centre, where the firm's book, The Ultimate Guide To Real Estate Investment In Singapore, was launched.

Last year, Case received 1,079 complaints against property agents for unsatisfactory service and making misleading claims. This makes the industry the sixth most-complained-about sector. The three most-complained- about sectors last year were timeshare (2,523 cases), beauty (2,060 cases) and education (1,843 cases).

The CEA has the authority to fine, suspend or revoke the licences of property agents who break the rules. From Jan 1, only CEA-registered agents will be allowed to work.

The new code bans agents from representing both buyer and seller, or referring clients to moneylenders. They must also have a system for handling complaints and follow advertising guidelines.

CHERYL ONG

ST : Surprise as 32,800 estate agents make cut

Oct 30, 2010

Surprise as 32,800 estate agents make cut

By Cheryl Ong

MORE than 32,000 property agents have met the minimum requirements for accreditation, despite the criteria being raised this year.

Enforcement by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), a new regulatory body, had been expected to root out a third of the 30,000 property agents thought to be practising here. So it has surprised the industry that 32,800 agents met the new, stricter requirements that kicked in a week ago, the CEA said yesterday.

A preliminary breakdown indicates that 70 per cent of those who made the cut had passed the industry exam; the rest did so by making at least three transactions in the last two years.

The statutory board, set up this year, required all estate agents to register with it by Nov 30. It will also require them to sit examinations and to stick to a code of ethics, failing which they and their agencies could be fined, suspended or have their licences revoked.

These moves follow growing complaints against property agents, and the need for some policing of the largely fragmented and self-regulating industry through mandatory licensing.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said the surprisingly high number of agents who qualified for accreditation showed the actual number of agents here had been underestimated. 'All this while, we were groping in the dark. It really shows how badly the industry needs regulation,' he said.

But industry observers expect the number of agents to fall, with two more rounds of 'culling' coming before the year end.

The first of these is the Nov 30 deadline to register with the CEA. The other source of attrition will come from those with fraud convictions possibly not being cleared to practise. This is unlike the existing voluntary accreditation scheme, which lets agents rejoin the industry after their jail terms.

Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh estimates the final tally of agents to be 25,000 by the year end.

Yesterday, the CEA listed the new rules effective from Nov 15: From that day, agents cannot represent both buyer and seller, or refer clients to moneylenders. Agencies must also have a system for handling complaints and follow advertising guidelines.

From Jan 1, only CEA-registered agents can work, and they must be covered by indemnity insurance.

Said Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob: 'You expect standards in every profession... If a property agent considers himself a professional, he should welcome the rules and regulations.'

ERA agent Shirley Chan, 65, said the rules are strict but necessary. 'The regulations make it clearer to us what behaviour flouts the rules, and makes us accountable for our actions,' she said

BT : Change property agents' income structure: panel

Business Times - 06 Oct 2010

Change property agents' income structure: panel

THE compensation structure for real estate agents here remains a hindrance to making the industry more professional, panellists at a congress said yesterday.

Most property agents in Singapore get a lot of their income from commissions, which can drive them to try to close sales at the expense of customers' interests, the panellists said.

'As long as the compensation package drives you the other way, it is very hard for you to be professional,' said Far East Organization's chief operating officer Chia Boon Kuah.

Leong Sze Hian, immediate past-president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals and a Wharton Fellow, agreed.

He reckons a minimum wage system would help somewhat.

'As long as you have a lot of people who don't earn enough to make a decent living, or who have to make a decent living in a way that loses the trust of the customers, then how can you be professional?' Mr Leong asked a room full of estate agents.

Mr Chia and Mr Leong were part of a panel on developing world-class real estate professionals in Singapore at the inaugural International Real Estate Congress.

The congress is jointly organised by the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (SISV) and Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA).

The other two panellists - PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail and ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim - said growing the public's trust in the profession is crucial.

Most panellists and real estate professionals are hopeful that the government's move to set up a statutory board - the Council for Estate Agencies - to regulate the industry will ensure that property firms and agents have the knowledge to provide professional service while working ethically.

They noted that this is especially important as the real estate markets become more globalised.

In recent years, foreigners have shown an increasing interest in real estate in Singapore and other Asian cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, said Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu at the opening of the congress yesterday.

'To serve an increasingly diverse global clientele, the role of the real estate professional will have to evolve to encompass regions beyond the local market,' Ms Fu said.

'With a global real estate market, real estate practitioners will need to possess the requisite knowledge on legislation and policies of many countries.'

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.



Mr Chia: 'As long as the compensation package drives you the other way, it is very hard for you to be professional.'

ST : Better service expected

Aug 22, 2010

Better service expected

Service levels in the fragmented and unregulated industry are set to improve once the Estate Agents Bill is passed. This is likely to happen later this year.

Consultations began last year but some details have already been made clear.

There will be higher entry requirements, such as a minimum of four GCE O-level passes and the need to take a mandatory industry examination.

All agencies will have to be licensed and all agents registered.

'Everyone will be responsible for their own actions knowing that they may end up losing their licence and registration number to practise,' said Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh.

Here are some other changes to expect:

· Code of ethics

The proposed changes also include a code of ethics and professional conduct for agencies as well as property agents, said the Ministry of National Development.

'A failure to observe provisions in the code may render the estate agents and/or the salesman to disciplinary actions under the Bill,' said Mr Norman Ho, a partner at law firm Rodyk & Davidson. 'As such, this code would serve as a means to directly establish and enforce service standards in the industry.'

· No dual representation

The Consumers Association of Singapore has long maintained that agents should not take commissions from both the buyer and the seller as there is a potential conflict of interest.

This notion will largely be met under the new Bill: Agents will not be able to collect commissions from both the buyer and the seller.

In a private home transaction, the buyer's agent will continue the current practice in which he takes a cut of the seller's commission from the seller's agent.

Still, in future, the buyer may want to consider paying his own agent a commission to ensure his interests are best protected, said C&H Realty managing director Albert Lu.

· Standard agreements

Exclusive sale agreements between clients and agents differ from agency to agency, but this will change under the new Bill.

There will be standard agency agreements between clients and agents.

If estate agency services are carried out without this required agreement, the agent will not be able to recover any fees or seek any legal remedy, the Government has said.

Details of this standard form contract have yet to be provided.

But Mr Ho expects that the agreement will greatly standardise the market practice among estate agencies and agents with regard to the scope and standard of services.

MND : INTRODUCES ESTATE AGENTS BILL

Press Releases

MND INTRODUCES ESTATE AGENTS BILL
IN PARLIAMENT ON 16 AUGUST 2010

1 The Ministry of National Development (MND) introduced the Estate Agents Bill for a First Reading at the Parliamentary Session on 16 August 2010. The proposed Estate Agents Bill seeks to establish the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) as a new statutory board under MND to regulate the real estate agency industry.

Key Features of the Estate Agents Bill

Coverage of Framework and Establishment of CEA

2 The proposed Estate Agents Bill will apply to all estate agency work for Singapore and foreign properties marketed, sold or leased in Singapore. CEA will be established to administer the new regulatory framework.

Licensing of Estate Agencies and Registration of Salespersons

3 Estate agencies will continue to be licensed, but with enhanced conditions. Each agency will have to appoint a key executive officer (KEO) to be responsible for the proper administration and overall management of the business and supervision of all its salespersons. The KEO, all partners and directors in each agency will have to satisfy enhanced licensing conditions, such as fulfilling fit and proper criteria and prohibition to simultaneously hold a moneylender’s license, or be an employee, director or partner of a licensed moneylender.

4 Estate agencies will be required to exercise effective supervision of their salespersons and take responsibility for their actions. To enable agencies to do so, the Bill will require a salesperson to contract with only one agency and to operate under a written agreement with the agency. Salespersons will need to be registered with CEA through and with the support of their agencies, before they are allowed to do estate agency work.

5 Estate agencies will have to ensure that all their registered salespersons are professionally competent and meet the fit and proper criteria. Salespersons also need to have the necessary qualifications, pass the CEA’s salesperson examination and undertake continuing professional development relating to estate agency work. Information on all registered salespersons will be available on a public register, including the agency they are working for and any disciplinary action taken against them.

Duties and Liability of Estate Agencies and Salespersons

6 The Bill will empower CEA to prescribe codes of practice, ethics and professional conduct to regulate the practices of estate agencies and salespersons. Failure to comply with the codes may render the estate agency and/or salesperson liable to disciplinary action.

7 The CEA will also prescribe standard estate agency agreements between estate agencies and their clients, to ensure that the agreements do not contain unfair clauses. An estate agency that performs estate agency work without the required agreement will not be able to recover any fees or seek any remedy in legal proceedings.

Investigative and Disciplinary Powers

8 The Bill will provide CEA with powers of investigation to enable CEA to investigate breaches and enforce regulatory requirements. Under these provisions, CEA investigators will be able to summon agencies’ KEOs and salespersons, and seize relevant materials and documents.

9 The Bill will allow CEA to set up a Disciplinary Committee to hear and consider disciplinary cases. The Disciplinary Committee can mete out penalties including revocation, suspension, fines, admonishment and other conditions on estate agencies and salespersons if it finds the agencies and/or salespersons responsible.

10 The Bill will allow any person who is aggrieved by the decisions of CEA to lodge an appeal to an independent Appeals Boards. The decision of the Appeals Board shall be final.

Dispute Resolution

11 Estate agencies and salespersons will be required to participate in CEA’s prescribed dispute resolution process covering mediation and arbitration, once this has been initiated by the consumer.

Transition Arrangement

12 The Bill includes transition provisions for existing agencies to be deemed as licensed by CEA for the remainder of the duration of the licence previously issued by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) until 31 December 2010. Other transitional arrangements will be provided for in the regulations to be published in the Gazette after the Bill is passed.

Second Reading

13 The Bill will be tabled for a Second Reading at the following available Parliament sitting.

Issued by: Ministry of National Development
Date: 16 August 2010

BT : Rich Londoners hire new breed of housing agents

Business Times - 18 Aug 2010

Rich Londoners hire new breed of housing agents

(LONDON) Beverley Kirby gave up trying to buy a house on her own in London's Chelsea area after twice getting burned by owners reneging on agreements to sell to her. The night before Ms Kirby was due to sign for one £4.5 million (S$9.5 million) house a year ago, she was trumped by an offer that was £500,000 higher. The aborted deal cost her £4,000 in fees and left her with a few months to vacate the apartment she had sold.

'I was getting desperate,' said Ms Kirby, who bought and sold seven other homes previously with her former husband. 'There was madness in the market. People had no ethics at all.'

That experience, along with the surge in prices for a dwindling number of top-end properties for sale, led Ms Kirby to hire Robert Bailey, a type of broker known as a buying agent. Mr Bailey is one of several hundred operators in a field that barely existed in the UK 15 years ago. He found her a home that wasn't advertised. Ms Kirby moved into it in early April after Mr Bailey helped her carry out refurbishments and get planning consent to use the top of the garage as a roof terrace.

The agents are a response to a flaw in the British real estate system that favours sellers, said Phil Spencer, who hosts property-search shows on UK television with fellow agent, Kirstie Allsopp. Typically, potential UK homebuyers register with 'estate agents', who show them properties but are ultimately paid by the sellers.

In the United States, both buyers and sellers usually hire brokers, though only the sellers pay commission. These fees are shared by both sets of brokers. 'A buyer has nobody to help them with the biggest financial decision of their life,' said Mr Spencer, 40.

The new breed of advisers charge the potential purchaser a retainer plus commissions of as much as 2.75 per cent of the sale price. It's a cottage industry largely used by the wealthy because it's too expensive for most people with budgets of less than about £500,000.

Buying agents have proliferated in the luxury markets of London and southern England as a weaker pound lured overseas investors. They do everything from locating the home and negotiating the price, to arranging legal and survey work and researching potential pitfalls such as noisy neighbours. They are prized largely for speeding up the process to reduce the chance of getting 'gazumped', a British term for being trumped by a higher bid before signing contracts.

'Over the past five years especially, there has been a quadrupling in the number of buying agents in the prime central London market and their numbers increase all the time,' said Noel de Keyzer, head of house sales at broker Savills plc's Sloane Street branch in the city.

There are fewer luxury properties for sale in prime London neighbourhoods even as demand is rising. Residential purchases in the Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea boroughs, where average house prices exceed £1.3 million, are down 23 per cent from the average since 1996, according to London Central Portfolio Ltd, which buys and manages prime rental property investments.

About 100 properties worth at least £20 million have been purchased since 2006 - a category that's less than 10 per cent of the prime central London market. Most deals of that size are now handled by buying agents, Mr de Keyzer said. The scarcity of prime homes for sale lifted prices in central London by 23 per cent since a year-long slump ended in March 2009, Knight Frank LLP estimates.

Agents have to court private banks or wealth managers to generate new leads to sustain the deal flow. Dozens of individuals, many former brokers, have set up on their own as overseas buyers flocked to London. 'All you have to do is two or three deals a year and you earn as much as you did before,' said Johnny Turnbull, who has worked independently since 2006 after heading the London arm of Prime Purchase, Savills's buying-agent arm.

Some independent buying agents say rivals owned by brokers have a conflict of interest because their companies represent both the buyer and the seller. 'They're trying to milk the fees at both ends,' said Francis Long, who set up buying agency Hanslips 12 years ago.

Savills and Knight Frank say there are 'Chinese walls' and enough transparency to avoid conflicts, and that few customers have problems with the arrangement. Buying agents rely on relationships with brokers, developers and owners to get their customers first in line for a home. -- Bloomberg

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

ST : Council for Estate Agencies

Aug 17, 2010

Council for Estate Agencies

A NEW statutory board will be set up under the Ministry of National Development to serve as a regulator for the real estate industry here,under the Estate Agents Bill tabled in Parliament on Monday.

To be christened the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), the regulator will take over the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's current role in licensing real estate agencies.

The CEA would be empowered to prescribe codes of practice for estate agencies and agents, and ensure that agreements between agencies and clients do not contain unfair clauses.

Estate agents will be required to register with the CEA, pass an examination and possess the necessary qualifications.

Each agency will also be required to appoint a key executive officer, who will be responsible for the overall management of the business and the supervision of all its agents.

The Bill also empowers the CEA to investigate complaints against agencies and agents, and to mete out suitable penalties, including suspensions and fines.

Information on all registered estate agents, including the name of the agency they work for and disciplinary actions taken against them, will be made available on a public register.

BT : Real estate gets a new gauge of market pulse

Business Times - 29 Jul 2010

Real estate gets a new gauge of market pulse

New industry-backed index to measure sentiment shows mood has sobered slightly

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) In a historic move, the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore has teamed up with the National University of Singapore's Department of Real Estate (DRE) to develop a Real Estate Sentiment Index (RESI), and it shows a lower reading for the second quarter of this year than for the first quarter.

Developers and industry players continue to express positive sentiments but expect market conditions to be less robust, Redas and DRE said.

More respondents were still positive (rather than negative) on the overall performance of the prime and suburban private residential markets over the next six months but the consensus as indicated by net balances weakened in the second quarter compared with the first quarter.

On the other hand, the net balance for offices improved substantially, in tandem with improving sentiment in this segment in April-June.

The survey also found that 51 per cent of developers polled for Q2 expect price growth for new residential launches, down from 85 per cent in Q1.

About 68 per cent of developers surveyed in Q2 expect more units to be launched over the next six months, down from 83 per cent in the Jan-March period.

The findings of the survey will be officially released this morning at the Redas Property Prospects Update 2010 seminar at Orchard Hotel.

Some market watchers welcomed Redas efforts in coming up with an objective method of gauging the confidence level of senior executives of property developers - and making it public. 'It's good to hear from the horse's mouth,' said DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah.

Redas CEO Steven Choo noted that 'while business expectation surveys are available for the manufacturing and service industries, there is currently no indicator specifically tracking sentiment in the fast-paced real estate market of Singapore'.

Some industry watchers also pointed to the refreshing change at Redas. 'Previously, something like this, showing a slowdown in sentiment, would have been considered extremely sensitive and developers may have tried to hide it. Now they're more open about it,' said an observer.

Mrs Ong said: 'Releasing the RESI shows just how far Redas has come. It reflects the maturity of the property market and stakeholders. It's important to give the true market signals to all stakeholders - including home buyers and government - if we're going to have a sustainable property market based on sound fundamentals.'

Redas and DRE developed the quarterly structured-questionnaire survey, which is conducted among senior executives of Redas member firms - mostly developers but also property consultants, architects, quantity surveyors and other professionals.

Dr Choo, who assumed the post of Redas CEO nearly a year ago, says: 'The partnership between NUS and Redas has ensured academic rigour and added credibility to the new index. We are confident that in time, RESI will become an authoritative index and a highly-valued forward indicator for the property market, as well as an invaluable tool to guide the market and industry players, including investors and policymakers.'

Redas received about 70 responses for each of the Q1 and Q2 surveys - from largely the same people.

The survey measures respondents' perceptions of current market conditions/ performance (now, compared with six months ago) and future expectations (over the next six months).

The RESI comprises three indices. The Current Sentiment Index, where respondents are asked to rate overall Singapore real estate market conditions now compared with six months ago, fell from 7.2 in Q1 to 5.8 in Q2. The Future Sentiment Index, where respondents rate overall property market conditions over the next six months, also slipped from 6.4 to 5.9.

As a result, the Composite Sentiment Index, which is the average of the two indices, declined from 6.8 in Q1 to 5.9 in Q2.

The index ranges from 0 to 10, with a score below 5 indicating deteriorating market conditions. A score above 5 shows improving market conditions. The Q2 score shows that developers and industry players continue to express positive sentiments and expect market conditions to remain favourable, but less robust than before.

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

TODAY ONLINE : Thousands of housing agents get the axe

Thousands of housing agents get the axe

Real estate firms take action ahead of implementation of new rules

05:55 AM Jul 28, 2010

by Joanne Chan



SINGAPORE - Real estate firms have axed thousands of housing agents ahead of enhanced regulations aimed at improving the professionalism of the industry.

Under a new regulatory framework to be implemented by the Ministry of National Development (MND), a statutory board known as the Council for Estate Agencies will be set up. MediaCorp understands that a Bill could be introduced in Parliament as early as October.

When contacted, MND would only say that a Bill will be introduced later this year, with the council operational by the end of the year. Under the new framework, all agents must register with the council before they are allowed to practice. In the meantime, MND had asked estate agencies to submit their agents' particulars and qualifications.

Some firms have taken the opportunity to do some housekeeping. Dennis Wee Group (DWG) updated the particulars of all its 5,000 agents earlier this month. They were also briefed on the new requirements.

DWG director Chris Koh said as a result of the exercise, some 1,500 agents were axed. They were mostly inactive or part-time agents.

"With the new central registry, where a member of public can turn to the registry and see if you are an agent, it's going to be difficult for those with a full-time job to moonlight as an agent."

Under the new guidelines, agents will also be required to pass a mandatory industry exam.

Only those with an industry certification will be exempted.

Rather than wait, DWG has asked all its agents to equip themselves - either with the Certified Estate Agent Course or the Common Examination for Salespersons.

Another real estate agency, PropNex, has also taken action.

Its CEO, Mohamed Ismail, said some 1,200 agents were terminated, either because they're inactive or unwilling to take up personal indemnity insurance. The insurance covers any financial liabilities arising from housing transactions.

Agents who are associated with moneylending have also been let go. "We have made it a policy that any PropNex agent, who has a moneylending licence, will not be allowed to practice because we do see a conflict of interest."

ERA, which has about 3,000 active agents, says it removes about 100 inactive agents from its database every month. Associate director of ERA Asia-Pacific, Mr Eugene Lim, said the company has also been training its agents for the Common Examination for Salespersons. To date, more than 2,500 ERA agents have taken the exam.

HSR, which represents about 7,000 agents, says it regularly checks its database for inactive agents, who are then put on a passive list and sent reminders to go for retraining.

There are an estimated 30,000 housing agents in Singapore.

Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

ST : Govt steps in to curb errant property agents

May 7, 2010

Govt steps in to curb errant property agents

New statutory board to regulate industry after rise in complaints

By Joyce Teo

NEW rules to nail errant property agents and protect Singapore's home buyers and sellers will be introduced by the Government.

It is planning a new statutory board - the Council for Estate Agencies - to regulate the industry and require all property agents to sit examinations, register and stick to a binding code of ethics and conduct.

Agents and agencies that flout the council's rules will be subjected to a range of disciplinary measures, including debarment.

A key impetus for the Government's get-tough initiative is the rising number of complaints made against property agents in recent years.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) received 358 real estate cases, including complaints, in the first four months of this year, against 1,079 cases last year and 1,100 in 2008.

And there has been a range of gripes from consumers about agents failing to give proper advice, using misleading sales tactics and not honouring agreements.

Players in the largely fragmented and self-regulating industry had called for a mandatory licensing scheme for individual agents to help crack down on errant operators switching firms after being fired.

The existing voluntary accreditation programme had allowed some agents to rejoin the industry after serving prison sentences for fraud.

The changes - set to be introduced in the second half of the year - are destined to give regulation more focus, given that the Ministry of National Development has opted for a central body to license agencies and register agents.

Under the new regime, all estate agents will have to register through their agencies with the Council for Estate Agencies, which will also take over the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's role in licensing estate agencies.

To practise, property agents will need to pass a mandatory industry examination and undertake compulsory continuing professional development.

Those who have already passed an industry exam will not need to sit the new test.

New agents must have a minimum of four GCE O-level passes or the equivalent.

Licensed moneylenders, or employees of a licensed moneylender, are to be prohibited from becoming an estate agent or agency, and vice versa.

There have been reports of moneylenders trading as estate agents and exploiting cash-strapped HDB flat sellers. And National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan had announced in Parliament that new measures were being drafted to tackle the issue.

Additionally, the new regulations will set out standard prescribed estate agency agreements for sale and leasing deals.

Measures aimed at avoiding conflicts of interest are planned and will mean, for example, that agents will not be allowed to represent both the seller and buyer in the same transaction.

To keep errant players in check, the framework will have the backing of legislation and disciplinary mechanisms. This will give the Council for Estate Agencies the power to hit agencies and agents with warnings, fines, suspension and debarment.

ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim welcomed the introduction of the new controls.

'Errant agents can now hide behind the companies. With the change, they can be struck off the register and won't be able to practise any more,' he said.

In the area of consumer dispute resolution, agencies and agents will need to participate in mediation and adjudication.

This process will tap existing facilities, such as consumer watchdog Case and the Singapore Mediation Centre, instead of a special tribunal as earlier suggested.

The changes being implemented are going to mean that the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA) will no longer be accrediting agents.

SAEA chief executive Tan Tee Khoon said that the SAEA can help small firms with mediation services for dispute resolution and training, given that agencies will have to set up dispute resolution and training systems for their agents.

Mr Jeff Foo, president of the Institute of Estate Agents (IEA), said that the changes would mean the IEA becoming more relevant, given that as the platform and voice of the real estate sector, it can provide feedback to the new statutory board.

joyceteo@sph.com.sg


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key elements of new framework

· Property agents need to be registered with a new statutory board called the Council for Estate Agencies. The board will also be licensing estate agencies.

· Agents must pass a mandatory industry examination, undertake mandatory continuing professional development of six hours a day, and have a minimum of four GCE O-level passes or the equivalent.

· Agents will not be allowed to represent both the seller and buyer in the same transaction.

· Estate agencies and agents must not be a licensed moneylender or an employee of a licensed moneylender.

· New legislative powers and mechanisms will be introduced to discipline agencies and agents. Such actions include warnings, fines, suspension and debarment of agencies and agents.

· A public registry of estate agencies and agents will allow consumers to check on the particular agency or agent they are engaging.

ST : Indemnity insurance for real estate agencies

Mar 17, 2010

Indemnity insurance for real estate agencies

FIRMS registered with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA) will need to have professional indemnity insurance before they can renew their accreditation.

A minimum limit of indemnity of $500,000 is recommended under the new rule that comes into effect on April 1.

The move by the SAEA is to make consumers more confident when they engage estate agents.

All commission agreements and exclusive appointments are now signed between the consumer and the estate agency through the agent.

Professional indemnity insurance, which is regarded as a form of risk management in professional business practice, offers protection in case of negligence.

The SAEA has worked with AVA Insurance Brokers and Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance to devise options tailored for small and medium-sized estate agencies, which make up 70 per cent of the 400 agencies under SAEA. There are about 1,700 estate agencies in Singapore. Most of them are boutique-size firms.

SAEA chief executive Tan Tee Khoon said: 'The mega estate agencies accredited by the SAEA already have existing cover at competitive rates. However, the boutique-size firms may not have the financial muscle to do the same and yet they too need it. The SAEA has negotiated what I believe to be the best available deal for these accredited real estate agencies.'

More information will be sent to the accredited agencies and a seminar will be held on March 25 to address the issue.

Accreditation by the SAEA is on a voluntary basis.

MARISSA LEE

TODAY ONLINE : Compulsory indemnity cover for estate agents to boost confidence

Compulsory indemnity cover for estate agents to boost confidence

05:55 AM Mar 17, 2010

SINGAPORE - If your real estate agent lies, gives you poor advice or fails to do due diligence, you will soon have a greater degree of assurance of recovering at least part of your losses.

From next month, agents accredited with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA) must have valid professional indemnity (PI) insurance in order to renew their accreditation status. A minimum indemnity limit of $500,000 is recommended.

The move, besides helping companies to manage their risks, is also to boost public confidence.

"Consumers who approach PI-covered agencies feel safer, that this agency is not a fly-by-night company. And in the event I need legal recourse that would lead to financial compensation, I would be able to get it," said SAEA chief executive Tan Tee Khoon.

He noted how, in some cases, the plaintiff may find himself holding just a paper judgment when the other party cannot cough up the money.

Why the change now? Compulsory PI could be one aspect of a proposed regulatory framework for the industry that authorities are now looking at, said Dr Tan, and SAEA's new requirement for its members is in anticipation of just such a development.

One example of when PI comes in useful for the client: Some years ago, a buyer of a property was keen on converting it for a different business purpose.

His agent failed to find out that the property could not be used for other things, and ended up using his PI coverage to pay the penalty for forfeiting the purchase.

This instance was cited by Mr Michael Chew, chief executive of AVA Insurance Brokers, which was one insurer - the other being Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance - that SAEA worked with to offer PI options tailored especially for smaller real estate agencies.

Big estate agencies here already have indemnity cover, but hundreds of "boutique sized" firms lack such coverage due to their limited means, noted Dr Tan.

The proposed PI premiums AVA has worked out with SAEA, Mr Chew estimates, are about half the cost of coverage smaller estate agents are currently paying. More information will be given to SAEA's 400 accredited estate agencies.

In Singapore overall, Dr Tan reckons there are some 1,700 estate agencies, about 70 per cent of which have less than 50 staff - and of this group, four in 10 do not have PI coverage.

He believes making smaller agencies take up PI won't jack up costs for consumers, "as the industry is competitive". - REPORTING BY NEO CHAI CHIN

Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

CNA : Estate agencies need Professional Indemnity insurance to renew accreditation

Estate agencies need Professional Indemnity insurance to renew accreditation
By Sharon See | Posted: 16 March 2010 2302 hrs

SINGAPORE: From April 1, estate agencies must have a valid Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance to renew their accreditation status with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA).

The SAEA recommends a minimum limit of indemnity of S$500,000.

SAEA said the move is designed to strengthen consumer confidence in estate agents who are believed to handle eight out of 10 real estate transactions.

Having a Professional Indemnity insurance is akin to good risk management for estate agencies, said SAEA, adding that the insurance also offers consumer some protection in case of dispute.

More details are expected at a seminar co-organised by SAEA and two other insurance companies on March 25. - CNA/vm