PHILIPPINE Association of Real Estate Board (Pareb) National President Rey Cartojano has asked the local board in Negros Occidental to take a more aggressive action against the proliferation of illegal real estate practitioners.
These illegal practitioners include those who present themselves as brokers, appraisers and consultants.
He highlighted this during the meeting of their member-board in the Visayas Region held recently.
He said there are many colorum real estate practitioners circulating elsewhere in the country and unfortunately, they even have outnumbered the licensed ones.
Thus, they need a more aggressive action against the illegal practitioners.
Last year, they have created an Anti-Colorum Real Estate Task Force.
"We are making moves to really report the presence of real estate colorum as the law penalizes those who engage in that illegal activity. We have imprisonment for illegal practice for four years and we need those who will file a case or complaint," he said.
He added that they will continue to campaign against colorum brokers thus they are encouraging them to report to their regulatory bodies for appropriate actions.
“Sometimes, developers are the ones employing colorum real estate brokers and we need to regulate their presence. Since the passage of the law, no one was imprisoned. The national organization will help in the prosecution," he added.
Meanwhile, Pareb members are increasing and there is a new board for the national organization.
"We are almost 60 years in existence with 70 local boards nationwide. And they will be celebrating their anniversary this month," Cartojano said.
The national association covers three professional practices such as licensed brokers, appraisers, and consultants.
In July 2009, there was a law passed Republic Act 9646, professionalizing the real estate practice in the country.
Before that date, the practice of real estate is not yet regulated by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) so it was not yet professionalized. They even raised the standard on real estate to make it globally competitive. But the most important thing right now is the qualification standards, Cartojano adds.
“Just like any other professions, for you to practice real estate, you need to complete a four-year degree course which is a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Management and you have to pass Board exams administered by the PRC,” he said.
Moreover, he said there were many complaints regarding real estate.
“People pretend to know real estate transactions. And second, we do not sell barbeque here but we are dealing with hard-earned savings of the people and ended up being handled by people who are not trained in real estate transactions. Their only interest is to earn a commission. They do not have a professional responsibility to ensure that the transactions will be properly structured," Cartojano added.
The new ones are part of the challenge where brokers, appraisers, and consultants will adapt to certain standards.
“If one cannot pass the PRC exam, one option is for the broker is to become a salesperson. No need to pass the PRC Board exam. What you only need is an accreditation with the PRC and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB),” he said.
He added there is a group of practitioners who are appraisers. They value or make estimates of the valuation of the property.
He said the highest form of practice is the real estate consultants.
"We are less than 200 real estate consultants in the country and in Bacolod, only two real estate consultants,” he added.