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
11/2017 Failing to Act with Due Diligence and Care when Facilitating a Sale Transaction Involving a Vulnerable Client (PDF, 949KB)
01/2016 Failure to Carry Out Work With Due Diligence and Care (PDF,500KB)
02/2016 Bringing Disrepute to the Industry by Misrepresenting to Landlord Interest in Potential Tenant, and Collecting and Retaining Rental Money He Was Not Entitled To (PDF,547KB)
03/2016 Failure to Declare Potential Conflict of Interest to Client Regarding Co-broke Commission (PDF,582KB)
04/2016 Rendering Wrong Advice to Client, Misrepresenting to Client the Market Practice in relation to Payment of Commission, Failing to Comply with the Council’s Policy and Other Misconduct (PDF,612KB)
05/2016 Rendering Wrong Advice to Client, Misrepresenting to Client the Market Practice in relation to Payment of Commission, Failing to Comply with the Council’s Policy and Other Misconduct (PDF,711KB)
06/2016 Failure to Declare Potential Conflict of Interest to Client (PDF,586KB)
07/2016 Failure to Obtain the Prior Written Consent of the Owners of Properties in Advertisements (PDF,396KB)
08/2016 Failure to Take Into Account Client’s Monies Used from CPF Special Account in the Purchase of Flat (PDF,405KB)
09/2016 Failing to Supervise Salesperson to Ensure that She Conducted her Estate Agency Work in a Professional and Reasonable Manner (PDF,598KB)
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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.