Okay, the arrested one was not in Malaysia but it is ok, just spread this news as wide as possible. In Singapore, one person by the name of Tan Yang Po was charged by The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) for allegedly acting as an estate agent without being licensed by the CEA. Tan is the first to be prosecuted in relation to unlicensed estate agency work for the sale of foreign properties. She was trading as AZEA Personal Coaching (APC). In Singapore, under the Estate Agents Act, an estate agent must be licensed with the Council (CEA) before it can market local or foreign properties here.
If only the enforcement in Malaysia is stricter, then such cases may also happen in Malaysia. To unlicensed brokers, sorry. I do not agree that this profession is degraded to a level where anyone and everyone can just be one. The reason why there are so many unprofessional happenings is also because these unlicensed brokers make it so much tougher and harder to get good people into the industry. Come on, if you do not allow unlicensed agents to sell insurance and unit trusts which are of much lower value, why do we allow these people to sell a property of half a million or more? On and off, we hear of stories where the ‘brokers’ disappeared with the deposit. I am very sure sometimes this may happen to negotiators who are attached to licensed agencies but compared to any ‘Tom, Dick and Harry?’
In my previous role, I have spoken to many agents who struggle and told me how they had to compete with these people who sometimes charge just a few hundred ringgit and thus the owners love them. when i sold my property last year, I used licensed agencies. I am putting another two up for sale and I just said sorry when my friend said he can sell for me because he is not an agent. Perhaps my friend would not run away with my deposit money but this is just not right. For me, if you really want to excel and earn lots of money, go and get yourself attached to a licensed agency. As for all those REAL ones, thank you for your professionalism and please weed out the unprofessional ones too.
written on 24 May 2014
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