Real estate brokers pledge to fight vs. illegal foreign practitioners
AN ORGANIZATION of realtors in Cebu on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, has renewed its call for Congress to enforce the Real Estate Service Act (Resa) Law that protects the real estate industry from illegal foreign real estate brokers.
Members of the Cebu Realtors Board (Cereb) said the growing presence of illegal real estate practitioners in the country is hurting their profession.
“We are trying to professionalize (the industry) because some Chinese or Korean or some other groups, when they come in and infiltrate our industry, they’re here as buyers, but the truth is, they are brokers internationally,” said Cereb president Nestor Toledo.
Because of this, services of the professional and licensed brokers in the local market are not patronized by those who need it the most, he noted.
Toledo said they will reach out to concerned government agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue to warn them about the proliferation of these “colorum” real estate professionals.
He said the transfer of titles and other documentation need the signature of licensed brokers, for example. However, “currently anyone can just represent and become a salesperson to any other agencies.”
According to Toledo, the group will support the ongoing movement against these “colorum” brokers by contributing data on a position paper which its mother organization Philippine Association of Realtors Board (Pareb) will submit to Congress.
As professionals, he said, they want to look into it closely so they can monitor and prevent malpractice.
The group, which celebrates its 60th year in the industry, also vowed to work closely with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to encourage unlicensed brokers to undergo the proper training and seminars and become licensed professionals in the industry.
Former Pareb president Emily Cabillada said there is a need for unlicensed brokers to have themselves legalized.
“It is for them to improve their skills and increase their body of knowledge to further service the community,” she said.
Resa Law
The Resa Law was passed in July 2009 to professionalize the real estate practice in the country. The law prohibits the practice or the offer to practice real estate services without being duly registered and licensed by the PRC.
Moreover, under Section 23 on Foreign Reciprocity of the Resa Law, “No foreign real estate service practitioner shall be admitted to the licensure examination or be given a certificate of registration or a professional identification card, or be entitled to any of the privileges under this Act unless the country of which he/she is a citizen specifically allows Filipino real estate service practitioners to practice within its territorial limits on the same basis as citizens of such foreign country.”
Violators of the Resa Law will be penalized with a fine of not less than P100,000 or imprisonment of not less than two years, or both.
If the offender is unlicensed, the penalty is doubled to P200,000 and/or four years’ imprisonment.