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
08/2020 Failure to Verify Accuracy of Information Obtained from Third-Party Property Listing Portal, Failure to Conduct Title Search to Verify Ownership of Property (PDF, 355KB)
09/2020 Failure to Advise Clients Properly on Floor Area of Property & Failure to Conduct Title Search to Verify Ownership of Property (PDF, 357KB)
10/2020 Failure to Act Ethically and in a Reasonable Manner towards Estate Agent (PDF, 356KB)
11/2020 Failure to Render Professional and Conscientious Services to Clients and to Act with Honesty, Fidelity and Integrity (PDF, 357KB)
12/2020 Failure to Explain Refund Policy for Booking Fee, Use Developer’s Reservation Form, and Obtain or Witness Purchaser’s Acknowledgement of Written Advisory Message for Foreign Property (PDF, 362KB)
13/2020 Failure to Verify Client’s Eligibility for Purchase of Flat and Inform Relevant Parties about Client’s Ineligibility (PDF, 362KB)
14/2020 Extending Validity Period of Exclusive Estate Agency Agreement beyond Permitted Validity Period (PDF, 562KB)
15/2020 Failure to Conduct Estate Agency Work with Due Diligence and Care and to Take All Reasonable Precautions and Do All Reasonable Acts to Ensure That No Law Is Infringed by Any Person (PDF, 457KB)
16/2020 Failing to Co-broke with the Buyer’s Salesperson for the Sale of a Property Belonging to the Respondent’s Client (PDF, 360KB)
17/2020 Inaccurately or Wrongly Represented to the Buyer and His Salesperson That the Amount of Rent That Seller Had Collected or Was Collecting at the Material Time (PDF, 64KB)
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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.