In the past financial year, the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) received 1,750 complaints against property practitioners.
PPRA CEO Thato Ramaili said trend of bogus, unregistered property practitioners was on the rise.
This include the practice of advertising of property for sale without a mandate from the owners as well as bogus estate agents selling a property and collecting payment from more than one person for the same property.
“Property scams and fraudulent sales are criminal offences and complainants are referred to SAPS,” she said. “We deal with complaints where there is an actual property involved or the sale or rental was facilitated by an actual estate agent whether registered with us or not.
“With scammers, most often there is no actual property, and no seller or lessor. It’s a scam and should be investigated by the police and not PPRA. We therefore do not keep stats of such scams.”
What to do before buying property
- The glaring red flag is the refusal of an agent to furnish a consumer with a copy of their Fidelity Fund Certificate (FCC).
- You should be concerned when the agent discourages you to call the PPRA in their presence to confirm their registration with the authority,
- The agent furnishing a consumer with an account that is different from the one provided for in the sale agreement or the request to pay money directly into their personal account, any monies paid must be paid into a trust account,
- Request for cash payment as opposed to paying into the trust account,
- Agent refusing to give you an opportunity to consider the agreement and putting pressure to sign and pay money all in an effort to save the deal.
What consumers should know:
- Always ensure that the agent has an FFC, the firm he works for has an FFC, that these are valid for the particular time of transaction and offering services,
- Ensure to find out the name of the principal of the firm registered with the PPRA and get a copy of his FFC, the firm’s FFC, and the FFC of any agent involved,
- Ensure that you get the account number of a trust account held in the name of the firm for which the agent works,
- Always get a copy of the written offer to purchase and contract of sale,
- Read and ask the agent to explain the contents of all documents,
- Do not agree to any commission being deducted from the deposit paid for the property before the property is registered in your name,
- Do not deal with agents who will not meet you at their office,
- Never pay for a property until you have seen it.
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