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
01/2024 Undertaking Estate Agency Work without Complying with Applicable Laws, Regulations, Rules and Procedures that Apply to HDB Flats (PDF, 65KB)
02/2024 Undertaking Estate Agency Work without Complying with Applicable Rules, Failing to Declare Conflict of Interest, Failing to Declare Transactions and Failing to Perform Due Diligence Checks (PDF, 43KB)
03/2024 Undertaking Estate Agency Work without Complying with Applicable Laws, Regulations, Rules and Procedures that Apply to HDB Flats (PDF, 59KB)
04/2024 Failing to Advise Clients on Applicability of HDB's Housing Loan Rule and Making False Claims about Clients (PDF, 46KB)
05/2024 Miscalculating Proceeds, Forging Signatures, Not Performing Customer Due Diligence, Suggesting Valuation with Fake Buyer, Not Complying with HDB Procedures and Not Providing Signed Document(PDF, 49KB)
06/2024 Failing to Verify Whether Clients' Sale of Industrial Property Was Subject to Goods and Services Tax and Misrepresenting That It Was Not Payable
07/2024 Failing to Take Adequate Steps to Verify If Goods and Services Tax Was Payable on Client's Purchase of an Industrial Property
08/2024 Facilitating Leases without Complying with HDB Procedures, Withholding Information from Clients, Failing to Declare Conflict of Interest and Failing to Perform Due Diligence Checks on Occupier
09/2024 Facilitating Leases in Breach of HDB's Rules and Advising Client to Mislead HDB (PDF, 68KB)
01/2023 Failing to Co-Broke with another RES in a timely manner and Failing to Act in a Reasonable Manner Towards Another RES (PDF, 148KB)
Page Size :

 

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.