Investors and property developers have been advised to do business only with licensed real estate practitioners to avoid further complications and to ensure transactions are above board.
“We are addressing this to all investors and developers especially those in mortgages and joint ventures,” said Hardinado Patnugot, Jr. , president of the Davao Board of Realtors Foundation.
The foundation has a total of 120 members in Davao City.
He warned that one pitfall emerging from dealing with unlicensed practitioners is that investors and property developers later discover they were not paying the proper taxes.
“The practice is rampant,” he conceded. “Hence, the first step is to determine if the practitioner has license so that there will be no regrets later.”
Roy C. Rabor, national vice-president of the Philippine Association of Real Estate Boards for Mindanao estimated that about 50% of current-day real estate practitioners do not have license
He said unfortunately a lot of investors and real estate developers are not aware of this act.
“Hence, we are reaching out to them to do business only with accredited or licensed real estate brokers and appraisers,” Rabor told the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday.
The two organization officials said they were raising the alarm on the proliferation of unlicensed practitioners considering the sharp increase of real estate development in Davao City and elsewhere in the region.
They said their organizations have opened their doors to associate members in a bid to entice those without license to apply for membership.
“We have amended our by-laws to enable them to come in as associate members,” said Patnugot.
Both real estate officials said the licensing of practitioners has fallen completely under the supervision and authority of the Philippine Regulatory Commission as embodied in Republic Act 9646.
Before July 30, 2009, real estate practitioners were accredited by the Department of Trade and Industry. The new law has since transferred this function solely to the PRC.
