August 9, 2015 8:37 pm [
manilatimes.net]
by CATHERINE TALAVERA,
REPORTER
THE Chamber of Real Estate
and Builders’ Association Inc. (Creba) is calling for amendments to key
provisions of the Real Estate Service Act to address its negative economic
impact on developers and real estate professionals.
Republic Act 9646, more
commonly known as the Resa Law, was enacted into law in 2009 to develop “a
corps of technically competent, responsible and respected professional real
estate service practitioners.”
Charlie A.V. Gorayeb,
chairman of Creba, said that while the title and the objectives of the law are
clear and specific enough, the subsequent provisions “extend beyond regulation
of the real estate service practice.”
He said stressed that “even
developers are now being regulated against selling their own projects.”
One of the provisions he
was referring to is Section 28 of the Resa law, which states that the
provisions of the law and its rules and regulations shall not apply to any
person, natural or juridical, who shall directly perform by himself the acts of
a real estate service practitioner with reference to his or its own property,
“except real estate developers.”
“The prohibition for
developers to sell their own properties is counter-productive and puts
landowners at a very disadvantageous position,” Gorayeb said.
Another provision is the
transfer of the regulation and licensing of real estate brokers, appraisers,
assessors and consultants and as well as the registration of agents or
salespersons from the Department of Trade and Industry to the Professional
Regulation Commission.
Creba national president
Noel Toti Cariño assailed what he said were discriminatory scholastic requirements
for real estate salespersons before they can get accredited and registered by
the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service (PRB-RES).
He emphasized that the
PRC’s standards are “very high” and could deprive a lot of people who wish to
make a living through real estate service, especially considering the large
number of real estate agents who were earning a decent living from legitimately
offering real estate before the Resa law was implemented.
“We will be depriving these
poor individuals the chance to partake in the economic benefits of real estate.
Many of them have been there working for so long, and then they will be
suddenly cut off because they cannot qualify for registration,” said Cariño
Creba suggests that the
academic requirements for real estate salespersons should be reduced, provided
that they undergo formal training or are certified to possess ample experience
by the licensed broker supervising them.
The group also urges the
removal of the policy limiting the supervision of only 20 salespersons per
licensed broker.
Gorayeb also urged
lawmakers to revisit Section 34 of the law which, he said, has sowed division
and confusion for many years among stakeholders on the matter of the
“accredited and integrated professional organization” and its intended nature.
He cited that this issue
must be resolved “to bring unity to the varied sectors of the industry.”
The group also wants a
clear statement clarifying that the requirement for real estate brokers to
register under the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) by virtue of
Presidential Decree 957 promulgated in 1975, has been superseded by Resa as an
effect of the takeover of the PRC on all licensed real estate professionals.
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