Creba wants RESA Law updated

THE country’s largest umbrella association of real estate and housing industry players in the country is once again supporting on-going legislative efforts to amend key provisions of Republic Act No. 9646, otherwise known as the Real Estate Service Act of 2009 (RESA Law).

In a statement, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) said the law has to be kept responsive to the challenges of the times to address its negative economic impacts to developers and the thousands of real estate professionals nationwide, especially in the face of a global health emergency that has taken its toll on the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos.

Creba has long spoken boldly that while the purpose of the law to promote industry growth, certain provisions of the RESA set forth undue restrictions to real estate developers, brokers and salesperson and salespersons.

Section 28 of the law states that the RESA shall not apply to any person, natural or judicial, who shall directly perform by himself the acts of a real estate service practitioner with reference to his or its own property, “except real estate developers.” This prohibition for developers to sell their own properties, CREBA said, is counter-productive and puts landowners at a very disadvantageous position.

Reacting to House Bill No. 8233 filed by Congressman Joseph Stephen Paduano, Creba National Chairman Charlie Gorayeb expressed alarm at the proposed abrogation of the bachelor’s degree in real estate management (BS-REM) requirement under Sec. 14(b) which he said would negate the very spirit of the law.

Given the country’s shift to the K12 curriculum for over 10 years now, Creba National President Noel Toti Cariño suggests to reduce the academic requirements for salespersons provided that they undergo relevant training and are certified to possess the ample knowledge and experience by the licensed broker supervising them.