The President of Malaysia Institute of Estate Agent (MIEA), Siva Shanker has referred the illegal broker situation in Sabah as ‘a real menace'.

He said that the situation far worse compared to West Malaysia, adding that they (illegal brokers) are doing all kinds of things against the law, defying the rules, and even go as far as cheating their prospect clients by running away with the deposit money, yet, unable to be located after that.

Siva also said that the main contributor to the problem is the lack of legal brokers especially in small towns which encourage the illegal brokers to take advantage of the situation.

On the other hand, he noted that course such as diploma in real estate agency is still not quite familiar in the Sabah, which unlike in Peninsular which those courses are offered many education centers.

MIEA is working very hard to try and get more estate agents to qualify especially in Sabah, according to Siva and this would be the fourth year that MIEA conducted Negotiators Certification Course (NCC) as well as the two-year diploma course at Kinabalu College, he shared.

Earlier, MIEA has conducted a two-day course which was attended by about 60 people, consisting of real estate negotiators as well as bankers, developers and property practitioners who had joined the course simply for better and more in-depth understanding of the laws and regulations relating to real estate practices.

Siva explained further that a course such as NCC is needed due to previous practice that does not require real estate negotiators to be licensed or tagged.

Previously, all estate agents are registered in Malaysia,. in order to sell properties and collect the fees, one must have to be a registered estate agent. Otherwise, it would be considered a crime under the Board Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act 1981, which carries a sentence of three years' jail, or RM300,000 fine or both upon conviction.

It wasn't until two years ago in 2013 that the Board decided that all real estate negotiators must also be registered, and in order for them to be registered, it is made compulsory for them to attend the course.

Incoming President of MIEA Sabah chapter, Henry Tai, pointed out that other than the lack of existing tertiary education offering in real estate agency, poor enforcement on the government's part is also a contributing factor for illegal brokering practices in the State.

He said that as nobody has ever been charged with such crime in Malaysia despite the thousands of cases involving such crime, so the best can be done is to educate the public and those who wish to be involved in this industry.

Henry also said that a certificate obtained through the NCC cannot be used to start a real estate firm. Certificate holders must first register themselves with a recognised real estate firm before they can apply for licensing with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents.