JUL / AUG 2016

Highlights from the Professional Service Manual (PSM): Confirming the identity of the client

CEA's Professional Service Manual (PSM) sets out the standards and guidelines for property agents to provide their services professionally and ethically.

In this issue, we would like to remind property agents to confirm the identity of clients and other involved parties before performing estate agency work.

For all transactions, there are the three key steps involved in verifying a client’s identity:

Renting to non-local tenants: Things to note

Property agents and landlords who are renting their premises to foreigners must exercise due diligence in checking the status of their prospective foreign tenants. This is to ensure that they are legal residents in Singapore.

Regulations in the Immigration Act require property agents to conduct all the required due diligence checks before they recommend a foreign tenant to a landlord or facilitate a lease to a foreigner.

Property agents representing landlords and tenants must conduct these three checks:

We encourage property agents to check ICA’s and MOM’s websites for the latest regulatory requirements.

Failure to carry out these three due diligence checks stated above is an offence under the Immigration Act. Those convicted would be liable to a mandatory jail sentence of between six and 24 months and a fine not exceeding $6,000.

We encourage KEOs and property agents to attend CPD courses to familiarise themselves with the PSM provisions. Details of these CPD courses can be found on CEA's CPD microsite.

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