Honesty is Key
Real estate agents cheat their customers. Not only do they present e-advertisements as their own, but also increase the prices of properties without notifying their owners and then pocket the difference. After the financial crisis, the real estate market became difficult, therefore, real estate agents who live on commission try to encourage customers to use their services, however, they do not always do it in accordance with the law and professional ethics. As a consequence, last year a record number of 165 professional responsibility proceedings were begun and in as much as 128 of them the Real Estate Agents Professional Conduct Committee at the Ministry of Infrastructure considered that a real estate agent had committed an improper activity.
Increasingly more often, real estate agents evade the law and illegally appropriate advertisements published by owners on various web sites and present them to customers as if they were the agents. Simultaneously, they increase the prices of flats, houses or plots of land without the owner’s knowledge and consider the surplus as their commission. “I had an ad for the sale of my Warsaw flat as a direct offer where I emphasised that I am not interested in cooperation with any real estate agency, since I do not wish to pay commission. The very day after, I received a call from a potential customer who asked me what the price of the flat is because he found an ad on the internet published by a real estate agent at a price PLN 20,000 higher than mine,” says Małgorzata from Warsaw. The unfair practices of real estate agents may become more common because the government would prefer the provision of services of real estate agencies not to require a licence. As a result, such a business could be run by any person who has an appropriate insurance policy. The aim of this new solution is to make the profession more accessible, since at present, in order to become a real estate agent you have to graduate with an appropriate masters or post-graduate degree, as well as complete a six-month practical training course. Moreover, in order not to lose one’s licence, real estate agents are obliged to participate in professional training sessions every year.
Gazeta Prawna
