Feedback on CEA gets Khaw's ear
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...77709,00.html?
Published February 14, 2012
Feedback on CEA gets Khaw's ear
By MICHELLE TAN
WITH a potentially shorter time frame for dispute resolution being considered by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), it seems that feedback from Singaporeans in response to National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan's earlier blog post 'A Very Busy First Year' has not fallen upon deaf ears.
Thanking the public for its feedback in a blog post yesterday, Mr Khaw said that views tended to converge in areas such as the need to raise the minimum educational qualifications of real estate salespeople, improve public education for consumers and brush up the quality of continuing professional development (CPD) courses.
However, opinions diverged in other aspects such as whether or not to impose a blanket ban on all DIY (do-it-yourself) resale transactions, or on the flip-side, bar all real estate agents from dealing with HDB resale transactions.
Giving his own take, Mr Khaw posted: 'I don't think it is appropriate to prohibit agents from handling HDB resale transactions. Neither is it necessary to mandate that all HDB transactions should be via agents.'
More importantly, the minister pointed out that should a buyer engage an agent to carry out a transaction, the amount of commission agreed by both parties at the start should be inked in the Estate Agency Agreement form to avoid future disputes.
Other concerns raised included calls for greater protection from both consumers and estate agents, with the latter appealing for increased cover from consumers who do not discharge their commitments.
However, going down the road, it seems Mr Khaw's bias would be tilted towards consumers, albeit in a 'fair manner'.
Also highlighting his preference for a more 'practical' approach when addressing the public's feedback, he reassured Singaporeans that firm action will be taken against the errant if they are found to have flouted rules.
So far, the industry watchdog has caught its first culprit, Tan Cher Peng, who was sentenced on Jan 12 to imprisonment of a month with a $32,000 fine for acting as an unregistered salesperson.
CEA will also introduce more courses for its pool of 30,000 registered salespeople to keep them in tune with the latest changes in the market.
'At one year old, CEA is still growing in capability and capacity. There is more work ahead, and if done well, CEA can make a positive difference,' noted Mr Khaw.
