Real Estate Agents Regulations
The ministry of land and physical planning, due to the need of protecting the government and the public, has established the Estate Agents Registration Board (EARB).
Dominic Mwangi
This regulatory body, derives its mandate from the Estate Agents Acts of 1984 that was brought to operation in 1987. It has its offices at Ardhi house which is also the ministry’s headquarters.
Functions of EARB
- To register estate agents.
- Deregistering practicing agents.
- Reinstating deregistered agents back into the register.
- Creating awareness to potential members and the general public.
- Setting prescribed guidelines for estate agency practitioners.
- Advising on the scale of fees to be charged by estate agents.
- To investigate into complaints against estate agents.
- Ensuring that all the practicing estate agents have indemnity covers as the law stipulates.
- Advising on the standards of training for practical experience of estate agents.
- Taking disciplinary action to agents who do not adhere to the Estate Agents Act.The estate agent referred to in this case is any individual who is involved in the transaction procedure of a property apart from the owner and the buyer of the property. The registered agents play either of the following roles;
Selling of property.
Letting out property.
Mortgaging services for clients.
Managing immovable assets.
Drawing lenders, vendors or property purchaser to a property.
Negotiating the conditions of sale, letting or mortgaging as an intermediary between an owner and their clients.
Charging a property on behalf of their owners.
The real estate industry has had massive growth across the period that the act has been in operation. However, there has been a lot of challenges among them unlicensed estate agents who end up defrauding either the public or the government which has seen improvement in the implementation of the Estate Agents Act.
Before involving any real estate agent therefore, its necessary if you have proof that your agent is licensed to prevent yourself from being exploited by the unscrupulous and fake agents.
