The Estate Agency Affairs Board on Wednesday said they were planning to remove illegal estate agents from the public as it undermined not only the rule of law but also the entire sector’s future and its credibility.
“We are dealing here with people who have no regard for the rule of law and compliance with industry standards and if left unattended has the potential to destroy the entire sector”, said the Board’s acting chief executive officer Nikita Sigaba.
He said in the past financial year the Board has prosecuted over 120 estate agents for contravention of its Act as it seeks to deal decisively with estate agents not complying with the law and those who are practising illegally without a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate as required by the Estate Agency Affairs Board Act.
“Of this number, more than half of those agents were prosecuted for illegal trading, although this number is not a complete reflection of the problem of illegal practitioners we believe are out there.
“It is very difficult to quantify the actual number of illegal practitioners currently since they are not registered anywhere. We rely on the public and the industry as a whole to provide us with this information which will enable the Board to act against such behaviour,” said Sigaba.
- African News Agency (ANA)
