By Nikki De Guzman:
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has convicted a property agent of three charges for breaching the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care when undertaking property transactions.
54-year-old Chua Cheng Thian, Benny, who has been a salesperson for 17 years is facing a six-month suspension and $S10,000 fine.
According to CEA, Chua agreed to sell his clients’ property on an exclusive basis and was to get one percent commission off the selling price.
However, Chua advertised and marketed the property contrary to his clients’ best interest through his understudy salesperson on a ‘Buyer only’ (or no co-broke) basis. He also stated a wrong block number on the advertisement to sieve out unrepresented buyers from salespersons. Moreover, he did not disclose to his clients that he had a personal interest, by way of overrider, in having the property sold to his understudy’s clients.
For this, Chua was convicted for failing to disclose potential conflicts of interest, failing to act in the best interest of his clients and for placing inaccurate advertisements. He was given a six month suspension and ordered to pay S$10,000. Additionally, he has to pay CEA costs of S$1,000.
Nikki De Guzman, Junior Reporter at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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