Past Disciplinary Cases

The following are disciplinary cases brought by the Council for Estate Agencies against salespersons or estate agents for breaching the Estate Agents Act (Cap. 95A) or regulations made thereunder including the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care or the Code of Practice for Estate Agents.

These cases illustrate the misconduct which had been committed and the charges which were brought as well as the penalties that were imposed by the Disciplinary Committee upon the respective respondents. The cases are examples of breaches of the respective regulations and the penalties that are meted out for breaches would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case. They are meant to inform salespersons about the disciplinary cases which have been concluded and to remind them not to commit such breaches of the Act or Regulations.

The cases are also meant to provide respondents in on-going disciplinary proceedings (who may be facing charges similar to those cited in the cases and who wish to know about precedents e.g. for plea bargaining purposes) with information on the previous decisions on penalties which were meted out by the Disciplinary Committee.

Filter by Year :

S/N Case Title
18/2020 For Misleading the Buyers That They Would Be Entitled to ABSD Remission of 7% as Long as Property Was Purchased in the Wife's Name and If Existing HDB Flat Was Sold within 6 Months (PDF, 64KB)
19/2020 Failure to Conduct Her Business and Work in Compliance with All Laws Including Statutory and Regulatory Requirements, Practice Circulars and Guidelines (PDF, 48KB)
20/2020 Failure to Submit an Offer to Client as Soon as Possible after Receiving the Said Offer (PDF, 44KB)
21/2020 Soliciting for Payment of Commission from Consumer who did not Engage One's Services (PDF, 61KB)
22/2020 Failing to Declare Conflict of Interest to Client in Writing, Misleading Client and Failing to Give Copy of Document to Client Immediately or As Soon As Possible after Signing (PDF, 71KB)
01/2019 Failing to Advise Landlord that the Property was not Approved under the Planning Act for the Intended Use of the Tenant (PDF, 418KB)
02/2019 Failure to Submit Offers, Conveying False Offers, Failure to Declare Conflict of Interest, Misrepresenting Valuation Price & Acting against Client’s Interests (PDF, 633KB)
03/2019 Failure to Conduct Work with Due Diligence, Despatch and Care, and Failure to Render Professional and Conscientious Service to Clients (PDF, 628KB)
04/2019 Failure to Work with Due Diligence and Care and to Take All Reasonable Precautions and Do All Reasonable Acts to Ensure that No Law is Infringed by Any Person (PDF, 425KB)
05/2019 Knowingly Providing Services to Sellers of Property who were Party to an Ongoing Exclusive Estate Agency Agreement (PDF, 425KB)
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Contravention of HDB's rules

  1. Estate agents and salespersons must not undertake estate agency work in respect of Housing and Development Board flats unless they are fully conversant and comply with the applicable laws, regulations, rules and procedures that apply to transactions involving such flats.
  2. The following cases are meant to provide salespersons with a useful resource of past breaches. The cases can be accessed here (PDF,125KB). 

Advice to Salespersons

  • If the client's instructions are not in accordance with the law, the salesperson should advise the client accordingly. If the client persists, the salesperson should discharge himself.
  • Obtain consent to advertise before marketing any property.
  • Advertisements must provide accurate information.
  • If in doubt, the salesperson should verify the client's information.
  • Salespersons should not facilitate subletting of HDB rental flats.
  • HDB rental flats are not meant to be sublet and it is a serious matter to do so.