Property Practitioners applauded the envisaged establishment of an Ombud Office to serve as an appeal platform for estate agents on matters that the internal remedies fail to resolve.

The Western Cape General Manager of the Institute of Estate Agents South Africa (IEASA) Ms Annette Evans said the creation of an Ombud will assist the Estate Agents in dealing with the difficult and unresolved matters.

“There are complains that the  Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) has not addressed properly and the creation of an Ombud Office will be instrumental in insuring that, as an independent body it  makes impartial decisions”, said Evans.

Evans was speaking at the Public Participation session held in Cape Town to promote the Property Practitioners Bill and the Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Amendment Bill.

The published envisaged laws are public documents and the Public Participation sessions allow all South Africans and practitioners in the property sector to comment and give further inputs.

Adv. Jan Tladi from the EAAB said that the Ombud may only handle the matter if all internal remedies within the Authority have been exhausted.

“If subsequent to the satisfaction of legislation formulation process the Ombud creation proposal is accepted,    the Minister of Human Settlements will appoint a suitably qualified person as Property Practitioners Ombud for a period not exceeding five years. The Office of the Ombud must be appropriately resourced to be able to execute its functions”, added the Adv Tladi.

The public comments are a necessary requisite to complete the work of the Department of Human Settlements that drafted the amendments following a review of the impact of current legislations and inputs from stakeholders on challenges related to fair lending practices and transformation in the property sector.

The next Public Participation sessions will be held in the following provinces:
1. Eastern Cape, East London , 29 June 2017,  Premier Hotel Regent - 10:00
2. Limpopo, Polokwane, 04 July 2017,  Sun Meropa -10:00
3. Mpumalanga, Nelspruit, 5 July 2017 Mercure Hotel- 10:00
4. Gauteng, Boksburg,  6 July 2017 Birchwood Hotel – 10:00

 

Issued by Department of Human Settlements