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
09/2021 Failing to Advise Client on Stamp Duty and Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty Payable for the Purchase of a Property (PDF, 64KB)
10/2021 Doing a Deceitful Act That May Bring Discredit or Disrepute to the Estate Agency Trade or Industry by Creating and Submitting a Fictitious OTP to HDB to Apply for a Valuation Report (PDF, 64KB)
11/2021 Bringing Disrepute to the Estate Agency Trade or Industry by Physically Assaulting Another Person While Attending a Viewing (PDF, 56KB)
12/2021 Doing an Act That May Bring Discredit or Disrepute to the Estate Agency Trade or Industry by Misleading the Buyer's Salesperson on the Commission Payable (PDF, 62KB)
13/2021 Failure to Conduct Business with Due Diligence, Despatch and Care by Failing to Verify the Identity of the Tenant while Facilitating Lease (PDF, 60KB)
14/2021 Withholding Lease Payments from Clients, Directing Payments to Personal Bank Account, Misrepresenting on Payments and Failing to Submit Transaction and Commission to Estate Agent (PDF, 65KB)
15/2021 Bypassing Co-Broke Salesperson and Misrepresenting as Buyers' Salesperson (PDF, 66KB)
16/2021 Failure to Conduct Business and Work with Due Diligence and Care by Failing to Ensure That a Purchaser of a Private Residential Property Met the Minimum Legal Age Requirement (PDF, 37KB)
17/2021 Misleading Another Salesperson and Thereby Bringing Discredit to the Estate Agency Industry (PDF, 49KB)
18/2021 Failure to Render Professional and Conscientious Service to Clients by Misrepresenting on Validity of Option to Purchase (PDF, 62KB)
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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.