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Feb 7, 2009
Stricter guidelines for agents <!--10 min-->
<!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Fiona Chan </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">
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ERA held a special meeting yesterday morning to brief all its agents on the new procedures. -- ST PHOTO: BRYAN VAN DE BEEK
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LESS than 24 hours after it was censured in court for the unethical behaviour of two of its property agents, ERA Realty Network has implemented stricter ethics guidelines for its 3,000 agents. The property agency will now require all agents to sign an undertaking at the start of each sale transaction, assuring customers that all possible conflicts of interest will be 'properly disclosed to the best of the agent's knowledge', ERA said in a press release on Saturday.
This disclosure, modelled on similar forms used in the insurance and financial services industries, will assure clients that they are the top priority of their respective agents, it said. Every time a buyer makes an offer to purchase a property marketed by ERA, he will also have to sign a declaration that he is not an ERA agent or a member of an agent's immediate family. A similar disclosure is already in place for buyers who purchase their units directly from property developers, although resale transactions do not require this.
The property agency will also put implement an 'extended' code of ethics for agents and customers, ERA president Jack Chua said. This will be finalised within the next three months.
The other measures will come into effect immediately, he added. ERA held a special meeting yesterday morning to brief all its agents on the new procedures. These moves come on the heels of a court case that ended on Thursday, with ERA being ordered to pay a couple $257,000 after its agents were found to be in breach of contract. ERA agent Jeremy Ang had sold a two-bedroom unit on behalf of Mr Yuen Chow Hin and his wife in mid-2007. But what the couple did not know was the buyer was the wife of Mr Ang's boss. She resold the apartment within a few days for a $257,000 profit. The Yuens sued ERA, saying Mr Ang did little to market their flat and there was a clear conflict of interest.
Read the full report in The Sunday Times.
Feb 7, 2009
Stricter guidelines for agents <!--10 min-->
<!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Fiona Chan </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="330">
</td> <td width="10">
ERA held a special meeting yesterday morning to brief all its agents on the new procedures. -- ST PHOTO: BRYAN VAN DE BEEK
</td></tr> </tbody></table>
LESS than 24 hours after it was censured in court for the unethical behaviour of two of its property agents, ERA Realty Network has implemented stricter ethics guidelines for its 3,000 agents. The property agency will now require all agents to sign an undertaking at the start of each sale transaction, assuring customers that all possible conflicts of interest will be 'properly disclosed to the best of the agent's knowledge', ERA said in a press release on Saturday.
This disclosure, modelled on similar forms used in the insurance and financial services industries, will assure clients that they are the top priority of their respective agents, it said. Every time a buyer makes an offer to purchase a property marketed by ERA, he will also have to sign a declaration that he is not an ERA agent or a member of an agent's immediate family. A similar disclosure is already in place for buyers who purchase their units directly from property developers, although resale transactions do not require this.
The property agency will also put implement an 'extended' code of ethics for agents and customers, ERA president Jack Chua said. This will be finalised within the next three months.
The other measures will come into effect immediately, he added. ERA held a special meeting yesterday morning to brief all its agents on the new procedures. These moves come on the heels of a court case that ended on Thursday, with ERA being ordered to pay a couple $257,000 after its agents were found to be in breach of contract. ERA agent Jeremy Ang had sold a two-bedroom unit on behalf of Mr Yuen Chow Hin and his wife in mid-2007. But what the couple did not know was the buyer was the wife of Mr Ang's boss. She resold the apartment within a few days for a $257,000 profit. The Yuens sued ERA, saying Mr Ang did little to market their flat and there was a clear conflict of interest.
Read the full report in The Sunday Times.
