SANTIAGO.- Alberto Bogaert, president of the Association of Real Estate Agents and Companies (AEI), stated here that the draft law on real estate rentals and evictions, approved in its first reading by the Chamber of Deputies, is a piece of legislation that is not in the best interest of either the investor or the tenant.
“We are working to ensure the law is exemplary. Not the one they are presenting, which is not convenient for the investor or the tenant,” the entity's representative stated during his presentation at the second CENI Expo Forum, held yesterday at the UTESA Convention Center.
He explained to more than 200 attendees at the event that it is the association's responsibility to ensure that it is a suitable legal instrument for all parties.
Regarding the project's provision that prohibits owners from establishing conditions or discrimination when choosing tenants, the president of the AEI understands that a property investor has the right to rent to whomever they wish.
“It is prohibited to establish as conditions for renting housing the condition of not having children, being a foreigner or establishing discrimination related to ethnicity, sex, creed, social condition or other forms of discrimination,” the legislation states.
Bogaert said that the project, which was submitted to public hearings last Tuesday and where 20 sectors came to present their proposals, seeking to strengthen the legislative piece that is proposed to regulate and improve the practice of tenancy in the country, should be evaluated in more depth.
Regulate brokerage
The president of the AEI said he hopes the National Congress will approve the law currently before the legislature regarding the regulation of real estate brokerage in the country, so that real estate agents can be licensed to operate.
“We are promoting regularization in Congress; we have gone several times, and this team that is analyzing it agrees that it should become a reality. We have met with ACOPROVI, and we understand that this year we will have a law that will regulate the real estate sector.”.
The real estate advisor also considered that regularization is important because the construction sector is one of the biggest contributors to the economy and the only part that "is lacking is that we are not organized.".
He emphasized that when discussing investments, one seeks to have a legal framework that guarantees the person's capital, and that not having a law in this regard generates distrust when the time comes to acquire the property.
Bogaert spoke about the importance of certification and reported that in recent years AEI has issued more than 3,000 certificates of study to real estate brokers, following the renewal of the entity's teaching program.
He urged the agents to join the association because the support of an entity is always important, and as they grow, their voice becomes stronger.
