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
01/2022 Failure to Verify Eligibility and Perform Required Due Diligence Checks Before Facilitating Lease of Flat to Foreigners (PDF, 71KB)
02/2022 Bringing Disrepute to the Industry by Dishonestly Amending the Exclusive Estate Agency Agreement without the Clients' Knowledge in Attempt to Claim a Commission (PDF, 61KB)
03/2022 Misleading and/or Deceiving the Buyer's Salesperson into Believing that the Seller was Paying the Respondent a Commission of 1% instead of 2% of the Sale Price of the Property (PDF, 62KB)
04/2022 Failure to Conduct Business with Due Diligence, Despatch and Care by Misrepresenting to Buyers (PDF, 61KB)
05/2022 Attempting to Facilitate Resale Transaction in Breach of Rules and Regulations, Misrepresentation in Resale Application and Failure to Procure Sellers' Signatures on Agreement (PDF, 75KB)
06/2022 Failing to Conduct Business and Work with Due Diligence, Despatch and Care leading to Client Infringing the Housing and Development Act (PDF, 62KB)
07/2022 Failure to Act According to Client's Instructions and Protect Client's Interests (PDF, 68KB)
08/2022 Failure to Properly Inform and Advise Client on Seller's Stamp Duty and Wrongly Advising Client on Occupancy and Stamp Duty Waiver (PDF, 66KB)
09/2022 Failure to Verify If HDB Billed Sellers for Costs of Home Improvement Programme Works before Completion (PDF, 65KB)
10/2022 Failure to Verify If HDB Billed Clients for Costs of Home Improvement Programme Works before Completion (PDF, 68KB)
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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.