It also prohibited project developers from making direct sales to customers.
SANTO DOMINGO.- A bill submitted to the National Congress by the Association of Real Estate Agents and Companies (AEI), in the period 2007-2008, was not approved because it excluded lawyers from automatically being authorized brokers.
This is the opinion of engineer Luis Sabater Núñez, former president of the AEI, who adds that the proposal also prohibited project developers from making direct sales to their clients.
He explained that at that time he had to play a double role with the project "which advanced quite a bit in Congress" during the years mentioned, because in addition to being an active member and past president of the AEI, he served as an advisor to the Public Works Commission of the Senate of the Republic.
“On that occasion, the Law was not approved due to the opposition of several congressmen, especially from the Senate Finance Committee, since the proposed law excluded lawyers from automatically being authorized brokers,” he said in response to questions from El Inmobiliario.
He added that the law also mandated the use of brokers in all real estate transactions, prohibiting project developers from selling directly to their clients. “This was deemed unconstitutional, as it limited free trade and restricted private property rights. At the time, AEI executives refused to make the suggested changes,” he noted.
Engineer Luis Sabater Núñez. (External source).
Luis Sabater Núñez believes that the law to regulate real estate intermediation should require prior professional training and mandatory periodic refresher courses for real estate agents.
Regarding the proposal currently before the Justice Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, the engineer opined that responsibilities should be established with penalty schemes for violations, for those people who practice the profession without the license issued by the competent authority and that should be established in the Law, to issue real estate broker authorizations.
“I believe that this element should be the key to guaranteeing the quality of service and preventing fraud or bad practices, which have caused so much damage to buyers and investors,” the professional said.
He explained that associations of companies and/or real estate brokers have sought to professionalize the practice of brokerage for sales or rentals, as is done in most organized countries.
Sabater Núñez argued that the first attempts to regulate real estate brokerage in the country were made in the mid-1980s, with the formal introduction of a bill to Congress in 1989.
“After that first attempt, I know of three other times (including the current one). In the different cases, the motivations have been aimed at regulating the people who can participate as intermediaries in the offer of real estate, both for sale and for rentals,” he stated.
Although he does not recall specific names of the initiatives, he assures that the reason has always been the regulation of real estate brokerage.
Sabater Núñez highlighted that the AEI and "a now-defunct Dominican Association of Real Estate Agents have led the various attempts to regulate the sector.".
“In the case of the AEI, I believe that all past presidents have made efforts to achieve congressional approval of the aforementioned regulation. Perhaps I can highlight the noteworthy efforts of Francisco Muñiz, Fortunio Ubiñas, and Víctor Báez, with the support of the late member Leonardo López. In the case of the agents, the historical leader was María Mora, who exerted a great deal of influence in the sector in the early 1990s.”.
