The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), the new statutory board launched to regulate Singapore’s property industry, has already received 150 complaints, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan. However, Mr. Tan is not surprised by the number, according to Channel News Asia.
”Since this is the first time we are regulating in a formal way, I would expect a lot of pent-up demand for such an avenue for them to vent their complaints … I would expect this to taper off over time,” he said.
CEA received six complaints a day on the average, which included allegations of money lending and fraud, and misleading information on advertisements, with nine complaints filed by housing agents against other agents.
About half of the total complaints were regarding poor or unprofessional service.
Investigations can take one to three months. However, the priority of CEA is to complete its register of salespersons and estate agents. As of October 22, it had already received 32,800 names.
Among those seeking registration, undischarged bankrupts or those with criminal records would be barred or excluded from working as property agents. Many companies, however, said that they would challenge any rejections.
Chris Koh, director at Dennis Wee Group, said some applicants had committed offences like drink driving, which do not reflect the current work of agents. Meanwhile, Patrick Liew, chief executive of HSR, said such applicants “deserve second chance in life”.
CEA said the appeals would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.