THE REGULATION OF THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY IN JAMAICA REAL ESTATE BOARD

Describe the process and timeline your jurisdiction went through to establish your Real Estate Regulatory Agency. Successive governments from as far back as 1969 received complaints concerning the unprofessional and unscrupulous conduct of real estate professionals. Several drafts of the new legislation were prepared over the two decades following 1969.

Describe the process and timeline your jurisdiction went through to establish your Real Estate Regulatory Agency. Cont’d The main catalyst to promote the drafting and passage of the Act was the 1975 Duffus Commission of Enquiry which was established to review the practice of land developers and the conduct of persons who market real estate on behalf of third parties. The report for this Commission was received on February 24, 1976.

In 1980 based on the issues outlined in the Duffus Report and its recommendations, a team of legal consultants worked on a draft bill for a Real Estate & Land Development Act. An interim Board of Directors was appointed in 1982 with the mandate to ensure the passage of the Act. Cabinet (Ministers that assist the Prime Minister to administer the affairs of the nation) gave approval for the formal drafting of legislation to make provision for the licensing, regulation and control of persons engaged as dealers (brokers) or salesmen (agents) in real estate; the regulation of dealings in land in development schemes; and for related matters.

The Real Estate (Dealers & Developers) Act was passed 1987 but came into effect September 1, We have been attempting to amend this piece of legislation for the past two decades.

What other functions does your agency have, if any, besides real estate regulation, and what issues are you currently seeing in your jurisdiction? Monitor compliance of Developers with the Act; Monitoring of compliance of strata corporations (condominiums) with the Registration (Strata Titles) Act; Monitoring real estate dealers’ compliance with the proceeds of Crime Act (the Board is the competent Authority for the real estate industry);

Other Functions of the Real Estate Board (CONT’D) The Board is to become Registrar of Timeshare under a new piece of legislation which is currently being piloted through the legislature process; The Board is slated to supervise another piece of legislation that is being contemplated to supervise “gated communities” (communities with shared expenses that are not condominiums). The Board is just commencing the legislative process for this piece of legislation.

Issues Facing Our Jurisdiction Most of the problems faced by the Real Estate Board have to do with ensuring that developers meet their contractual obligations; Tracking illegal practitioners; Clients Files are not properly kept; Real Estate Dealers who hold clients’ account (these are very few) are not utilizing the services of Auditors to validate their accounting process in accordance with the Real Estate Dealers & Developers Regulations 1988;

Issues Facing Our Jurisdiction (cont’d) Some Real Estate Dealers are not ensuring that the content of advertisements published are in compliance with the provisions of Section 18 (1) and Section 13 of the Real Estate Dealers & Developers Regulations 1998; Property listings are not being executed formally on a consistent basis; Contact information is not submitted by developers to the Real Estate Board on a timely manner;

Issues Facing Our Jurisdiction (cont’d) Supervision of Real Estate Salesman by Real Estate Dealer is sometimes inadequate: Knowledge of the acquisition of all listing by the salesman under their employ Payment of licence fee by real estate salesman in a timely fashion (Board applied 50% penalty fee) Advising the Board, in a timely manner, of all salesmen under the employment of the Real Estate Dealer.

How do you handle enforcement action in your jurisdiction, and what penalties can you impose? Enforcement The Board has a team of Inspectors, with varying skill sets, which monitor on the Board’s behalf. If breaches are detected the Inspector will either contact the practitioner and advise to the same and have it corrected (this is done for minor breaches) or report the breaches to Mangers and the matter is escalated to the Board of Director where the organization will determine the course of action to be taken.

Issues Facing Our Jurisdiction (cont’d) If an enquiry is decided the Board of Directors will then hear the matter. If prosecution is recommended then the organization will proceed to take the matter to the courts.

Issues Facing Our Jurisdiction (cont’d) Penalties Our law allows for prosecution through the Courts. We are currently changing the law to allow for the person prosecuted to plead guilty and pay a fine to avoid imprisonment. We retain Attorneys to do the prosecution. The Board may also suspend and cancel licenses.

Issues Facing Our Jurisdiction (cont’d) Currently the Board gets around its inability to fine practitioners by conducting hearings and charging the guilty practitioners for the cost of the hearings (this is provided for in our legislation); To penalize for late payment of fees the Board imposes a 50% penalty fee on all brokers and agents and a 100% penalty fee on all developers.