Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Accredited estate agents have to abide by code of ethics
I refer to Miss Yusnita A. Raby’s Forum Online letter last Saturday, ‘Is there a code for property agents?’ Currently, the Common Examination for Salespersons (CES) is a prerequisite for estate agents who intend to be accredited with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA). The syllabus of the CES course taught in SAEA’s 18 approved training centres (PropNex Realty is one of the approved training centres) includes landlord and tenant law, leases, the selling of private residential, HDB, commercial and industrial properties, as well as properties under construction.
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Accredited estate agents have to abide by code of ethics
Straits Times
01 February 2010
I refer to Miss Yusnita A. Raby’s Forum Online letter last Saturday, ‘Is there a code for property agents?’ Currently, the Common Examination for Salespersons (CES) is a prerequisite for estate agents who intend to be accredited with the Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies (SAEA). The syllabus of the CES course taught in SAEA’s 18 approved training centres (PropNex Realty is one of the approved training centres) includes landlord and tenant law, leases, the selling of private residential, HDB, commercial and industrial properties, as well as properties under construction.
Ms. Raby can refer to SAEA’s website, www.saea.org.sg, for further details. It is applicable to all estate agents, regardless of their fields of interest.
Ms. Raby may also wish to know that estate agents accredited by SAEA are to abide by its code of conduct and ethics which, among others, states that accredited agents are not to engage in any practice, act or omission that will bring discredit to the profession and to observe principles of professional etiquette with other estate agents.
Not declaring or submitting commissions due to the estate agency is an unethical practice. Estate agencies would generally dismiss such a defaulting estate agent on the grounds of contractual breach as well, and they would keep records of such termination. Estate agencies may check the references of any estate agents they intend to recruit from the previous companies they worked with before contracting them. Accredited estate agencies also notify SAEA if there are accredited agents or salesmen involved so it can start appropriate disciplinary proceedings.
However, in the current regime, accreditation is not mandatory by law. Thus SAEA does not have records of all cases and may not be able to initiate action against unaccredited agents who are found to be unethical.
Regarding minimum qualifications to be an estate agent, there are currently no mandatory entry requirements to the industry. Estate agencies normally take in applicants who have two or three O-level passes. SAEA’s basic requirement for accreditation is either Common Examination for House Agents, CES or other approved equivalent qualifications.
The Government announced last year that a new regulatory framework for estate agents will be put in place this year and we believe Ms. Raby’s concerns, shared by many, will be addressed as a result.
Dr. Tan Tee Khoon
Chief Executive Officer
Singapore Accredited Estate Agencies
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