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
06/2015 Failure to Declare Multiple Potential Conflicts of Interest (PDF,793KB)
07/2015 Failing to Declare Potential Conflict of Interest to Client Regarding Co-broke Commission and Misrepresenting that Payment was for Other Salesperson (PDF,426KB)
08/2015 Disclosing Confidential Information Without Seller Client’s Consent and Failing to Render Professional Service by Failing to Act According to Seller Client’s Instructions (PDF,426KB)
09/2015 Advertisement Containing a False Representation and Failing to Take Reasonable Care when Preparing Letter of Intent for Lease of Client’s Property (PDF,403KB)
10/2015 Misleading Clients that a Minimum Commission was Required under Singapore Law and Misleading Client that Additional Term in the Estate Agency Agreement was a Rule set by Authorities (PDF,429KB)
11/2015 Misrepresentation on the Cooling Off Period Following Issuance of the OTP (PDF,397KB)
12/2015 Bringing Disrepute to the Industry by Misleading Clients about the Identity of the Sub-Landlord, Failing to Declare Conflict of Interests, and Advertising Breaches (PDF,528KB)
13/2015 Failing to Conduct Due Diligence in Checking Deadline for Exercise of the OTP and Failing to Give a Copy of the Offer to Purchase to Client (PDF,664KB)
14/2015 Failing to Conduct Due Diligence in Checking Deadline for Exercise of the OTP (PDF,603KB)
01/2014 Failure to Declare a Potential Conflict of Interest (PDF,223KB)
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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.