Man charged for posing as a property agent
AsiaOne
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2012
SINGAPORE - The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) has filed charges against a man who illegally posed as a property agent.
According to the CEA, Lum Chap Heng, a 59-year-old Singaporean, acted as a property agent without being registered with CEA. This is an offence under the Estate Agents Act.
From June to July 2011, Lum allegedly posted flyers carrying his mobile number on the void deck display notice boards and walls of HDB blocks at and around the Jurong West area, advertising for landlords and tenants.
He was also said to have represented a flat owner to find potential tenants for her property. He negotiated property transactions directly and conducted flat viewings, said CEA.
Lum presented himself to potential clients as "Roy" or "Ron Lim", an "Associate Manager" with HSR International Realtors Pte. Ltd. However, Lum was not registered with CEA and did not have a written agreement with the licensed estate agent for him to carry out estate agency work for them.
He will be charged in Court under the Estate Agents Act (EAA) 2010 for two charges of holding himself out as a salesperson without first being a registered salesperson of a licensed estate agent, and one charge of holding himself out as a salesperson of a licensed estate agent without first getting an authorisation by written agreement from the licensed estate agent.
The punishment for each offence under Section 29(1)(a) and Section 41(2) of the EAA 2010 is a fine not exceeding $25,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.
ADVICE FOR CONSUMERS
Consumers are advised not to respond to any real estate agent's flyer, leaflet or advertisement that does not provide a salesperson's name, registration number, contact number, as well as the estate agent's name and licence number.
Engage only salespersons who are registered with the CEA. They can check CEA's Public Register at www.cea.gov.sg or on the "CEA@SG" mobile app to verify a salesperson's registration details before engaging his or her services. Searches can be done on the Public Register using the salesperson's name, registration number and/or mobile number.
If you encounter unregistered property agents, report the matter to the CEA, either in person, at 1800-6432555 or [email protected].
