REB Targeting Illegal Real Estate Practices

KINGSTON — Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Real Estate Board (REB), Sandra Watson, wants the public to be mindful of unregistered real estate practitioners, as it is illegal to conduct business with them.

Speaking at the Real Estate Professionals' Forum at the Girls' Guide headquarters in Kingston, on Tuesday (November 15), Miss Watson said that the board will implement a multifaceted approach to targeting illegal practices in the sector. One such approach has been a public awareness campaign, launched in an effort to educate Jamaicans on the perils of doing business with illegal practitioners.

"The Board will also seek to educate members of the public, so that they can better understand their rights, and the board will be making a serious effort to prosecute more…so we are urging all practitioners to ensure that they get their licenses updated on time, and do not wait for the last minute," she cautioned.

She noted that, in recent time, the board has had seven persons arrested and charge for operating illegally, and intends to pursue others with the upmost diligence.

"Of those seven cases that went before the courts, four have already resulted in convictions, two are pending and are still before the courts, and the last person died before the case was completed," she said.

The CEO said the board was also in the process of revising the fines for breaches of the Act, to make them more prohibitive. She also lamented that the organisation has been hampered by a number of challenges, when it attempts to prosecute the wrongdoers.

"One of our main problems is that, in Jamaica, we have this informer culture, where people do not want to provide evidence of illegal practices, because they don’t want to be branded as informers. I know of people who are willing to chastise the illegal practitioner privately, but are not willing to report him to the authorities," she stated.

Additionally, Miss Watson said the Board was also fighting the underground culture, where some individuals like 'bandoloo' deals.  

Another challenge faced by the organisation, Miss Watson said, was that many legitimate practitioners failed to obtain their licenses in a timely manner, and were failing to advertise in accordance with the Code of Ethics.

"If we are to find illegal practitioners, you have to assist us by getting your licenses on time and advertising in accordance with the law, so that when the illegal person advertises, his advertisement stands out," she said.

Hundreds of professionals in the Real Estate sector turned out for the forum, which also saw presentations from representatives of the National Land Agency, the National Environment Planning Agency, the Realtors Association of Jamaica, the Jamaica Mortgage Bank and the University of Technology.

The Real Estate Board was formed in 1987, to put in place systems that promote acceptable standards of professional and ethical conduct in the business of real estate and land development, to protect the mutual interests of all persons involved in such dealings.

By Athaliah Reynolds, JIS Reporter