How An RES Got in Trouble by Circumventing CPD Course Requirements

April 2024 - 3 min read

For the renewal of estate agent licences and salesperson registrations, industry professionals including Key Executive Officers (KEOs) and real estate salespersons (RESs) must fulfil the necessary Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements by personally attending CPD courses.

Since October 2019, a minimum of six credits must be undertaken by industry professionals for each annual CPD cycle. The credits are obtained by them personally attending CPD courses. 

CPD is one of the key components of CEA’s regulatory framework which ensures that KEOs and RESs have the skillsets and critical competencies to carry out their duties effectively. Currently, RESs will have to fulfil six CPD credits a year to renew their registration.

This case study is about an RES who tried to circumvent the CPD requirements: Sum Yusen (‘Sum’), also known as Caleb, who persuaded another RES, Jason Goh, to attend CPD courses on his behalf.

Sum then submitted his application to renew his RES registration despite knowing that he had not personally fulfilled the CPD requirements.

Case background

In August 2022, Sum contacted Goh for help to fulfil Sum’s CPD requirements.

At that time, they were from different estate agents. Sum was an RES with Huttons Asia Pte Ltd (Huttons), while Goh was registered with PropNex Realty Pte Ltd. Goh was previously with Huttons, which was where he became acquainted with Sum.

Goh agreed to Sum’s request, and the duo subsequently discussed how Goh could complete Sum’s CPD requirements on Sum’s behalf.

The duo’s plans involved two CPD courses which were conducted online in early September 2022, via the Zoom video conferencing software. These courses were conducted by Company H. 

A matter of courses

Using Sum’s log-in details, Goh signed up for two CPD courses, worth four CPD credits, in Sum’s name. On both days which the CPD courses were held, Goh accessed Sum’s email inbox to retrieve the details for the courses held online. Goh then accessed and attended these courses through the Zoom video conferencing software in Sum’s name.

Company H was not aware that it was Goh, and not Sum, who had attended both online CPD Courses via Zoom. On both occasions, Goh appeared on the video feeds and his username was stated as Sum’s name.

Sum then received certificates for the courses that Goh had attended on his behalf, and he reimbursed Goh for the course fees. 

In November 2022, Sum submitted his application to CEA to renew his RES registration for calendar year 2023 through the Advanced CEA Estate Agencies System (“ACEAS”). He did so despite knowing that he had not personally fulfilled the necessary CPD requirements, as four of the six CPD credits were obtained through the courses Goh had attended in Sum’s name.

Based on the course attendance information that Company H had submitted to CEA, CEA’s IT system, ACEAS, inaccurately reflected that Sum had satisfied the CPD requirements. Sum did not correct this wrong information, and instead chose to intentionally suppress this material fact when he submitted his application for renewal of his RES registration.

CEA investigated Sum after receiving a complaint. Sum also made false statements to a CEA officer during an interview regarding his application for the renewal of his RES registration.

Conviction

After the investigations were completed, Sum was charged and convicted in Court for an offence under Section 64(1)(a)(ii) of the Estate Agents Act 2010 (EAA) for having intentionally suppressed a material fact – that is, his ineligibility for renewal of his RES registration – in relation to his registration renewal application. A second charge was taken into consideration.

Sum was sentenced to a fine of $6,000.

Goh was also convicted by a CEA Disciplinary Committee for breaching Paragraph 7(1) read with Paragraph 7(2)(a) of the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care (CEPCC),  under the First Schedule to the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations 2010 of the Act, for doing an act that may bring discredit or disrepute to the estate agency trade or industry when he dishonestly agreed to attend a CPD course on behalf of and pretended to be Sum.

 A financial penalty of $20,000 was imposed on him.

Information accurate as at 23 April 2024