Unlicensed estate agent jailed and fined $32,000 | Singapore Property Market Highlights

A MAN declared that he had no prior convictions when he applied to the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) to be a licensed property agent in 2010.
But checks by the CEA showed that Tan Cher Peng, 45, had been convicted and sentenced in 1995 and 2000 for criminal breach of trust and cheating.
The police were also looking for him regarding a forgery case in 2004.
Further checks on Feb 8 last year revealed that Tan had placed advertisements offering estate agency services on online portal PropertyGuru under the guise of a registered salesman. He had placed the ads a day earlier.
Investigations by the CEA also showed that between Jan 20 and Feb 8 last year, he had acted as a salesman in renting out a property in Club Street.
Yesterday, Tan, who faced five charges, was sentenced to one month in jail and fined $32,000.
He is the first person to be charged and sentenced for breaking CEA rules. As of Jan 1 last year, anyone performing estate-agency work has to be registered with the council and must obtain a written agreement from an estate agency.
In a mitigation plea, lawyer S.S. Dhillon said Tan had no intention to cheat, and despite running afoul of the law, there had been no complaints of him behaving unscrupulously with clients and no financial loss to any party.
He added that Tan had advertised on the portal because he was unaware that he needed to be a registered salesman, and it was an honest mistake.
Mr Dhillon also said his client had cooperated fully with the authorities during investigations, and his plea of guilt was indicative of his remorse.
However, the prosecution noted it was difficult to enforce CEA rules or catch offenders. Urging the court to impose a heavier sentence, it said there was a need for a deterrent sentence aimed at potential offenders.
The prosecution also stressed that Tan had a string of prior convictions that were similarly related to dishonesty.
In the 2004 case, he forged the signature of a business associate on a credit application form in order to buy wines. He incurred a bill of almost $5,000.
Tan was jailed another four months for this charge of forgery.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
A CEA spokesman said there are two more cases involving unregistered salesmen pending in the courts.
In one of them, Raymond Sim Soon Leong, 30, is facing eight charges. He had allegedly listed two HDB flats for rent in an online portal, and claimed to have represented clients in making offers, negotiating property transactions and conducting flat viewings.
Several more such alleged offenders will be prosecuted in the coming months, said the CEA.
For many Singaporeans, their home is the largest single investment they will ever make; If there are problems with the transaction or with the property, they may suffer losses and other consequences,’ the spokesman said, adding that registration with the CEA was introduced to ensure that salesmen fulfil criteria such as possessing the necessary knowledge and adhering to ethical practices.
Consumers are advised not to respond to real estate agency fliers or advertisements that do not provide sales staff details or registration numbers.
The public register of agents at www.cea.gov.sg enables consumers to search for the particulars of sales agents using their names, registration numbers or mobile phone numbers.

fionalow@sph.com.sg
Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.