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BUSINESS NEWS - There used to be a time when regulations governing the real estate industry were sparse, leaving both estate agents and the public navigating transactions with limited guidance. With transactions often representing some of life's most substantial investments, the need for enhanced standards and oversight became evident. The educational framework for estate agents required augmentation to align with the complexity and significance of their role.
Elevation of Standards: EAAB to PPRA
The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) took pivotal steps in 2008 by instituting comprehensive regulations, outlining minimum educational prerequisites for prospective agents. These mandates included a rigorous 12-month internship and the attainment of an NQF 4: FETC Real Estate academic qualification. As part of their internship, candidates were required to keep a comprehensive logbook of tasks and activities for this period, which served as confirmation of their experience gained. After this, interns were required to successfully navigate the EAAB’s Professional Designation Examination at Level 4 (PDE4).
Fast forward to February 2022, and the landscape of real estate regulation saw a significant evolution with the emergence of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and the enactment of the Property Practitioners Act (PPA). This shift not only rebranded estate agents as property practitioners but also entrusted the PPRA with the fundamental responsibility of regulating ethical conduct within the profession.
PPRA's May 2024 communication
On 2 May 2024 the PPRA communicated an amendment to the current logbook requirement. Candidates who were required to submit logbooks on or before 30 June 2024 must still do so. However, candidates applying for a Fidelity Fund Certificate after 1 July 2024 will no longer be obligated to submit a logbook. This streamlined approach extends to current interns, eliminating the logbook requirements for those whose internships extend beyond 1 July 2024. Instead, principals of estate agencies will now assume the responsibility of validating candidates' completion of the NQF4 qualification, which encompasses practical training, through a formal letter submission.
Candidates will have to complete the NQF4 training course comprising a maximum of six modules to be concluded within six months, the rollout and implementation that are still being finalised by the PPRA.
Although these proposed changes may expedite the entry of new practitioners into the profession, it places a greater responsibility on principals of agencies to evaluate and certify the readiness of candidates to be fully accredited and appropriately skilled to guide buyers and sellers through the contract process. If this responsibility is not carefully discharged it may ultimately place an additional obligation on conveyancing attorneys to mitigate the parties’ risks after a contract was concluded.
We invite estate agents to drop in for a coffee with Jaco Lötter and Renate Oosthuizen to discuss these new developments in greater detail.
Tonkin Clacey Inc. Mossel Bay
044 220 0240
083 600 4903
jaco@tcinc.co.za
Office 4, Nautilus Place
27 Marsh Street,
Mossel Bay
www.tcinc.co.za
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