New regulations for real estate industry

Four sets of regulations will underpin the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 and the new regulatory regime, Justice Minister Simon Power announced today.

The regulations will ensure the regulatory processes are transparent, and make it easier for licensees to comply with obligations.  This will help keep compliance costs as low as possible.

"These regulations are very important. They supplement the Act and will enable the new regulatory regime to operate efficiently," said Mr Power.

"They will also help consumers by clearly setting out the information they can expect licensees to provide before they enter into certain contractual arrangements, and by making it easier for consumers to make a complaint if problems do arise."

The regulations are:

• Real Estate Agents (Audit) Regulations 2009 deal with the audit and use of trust accounts that agents must operate.

• Real Estate Agents (Complaints and Discipline) Regulations 2009 address procedural aspects of the new complaints and discipline process.

• Real Estate Agents (Duties of Licensees) Regulations 2009 set out the forms that licensees must use to satisfy certain disclosure obligations and to get informed consent before they or a related person can acquire an interest in a client's property or business.

• Real Estate Agents (Licensing) Regulations 2009 deal with the licensing process, including application forms and the educational prerequisites for each of the three classes of licence (agent, salesperson, and branch manager).

The regulations come into force when the new regulatory regime commences on 17 November 2009.  Copies of the regulations are available by clicking here.