SANTO DOMINGO.– The Senate of the Dominican Republic approved on Thursday in its first reading the bill that regulates real estate intermediation and deceptive advertising in the Dominican Republic, with the aim of ordering, supervising, promoting and preventing scams or foreclosures in real estate transactions in the country.
The legislative proposal was presented by Senators Rafael Barón Duluc, Félix Ramón Bautista and Eduard Alexis Espiritusanto.
The purpose of this regulation is to regulate, supervise, encourage and promote real estate intermediation in the Dominican Republic, with the aim of ensuring that the promotion, marketing and execution of real estate transactions are carried out in an ethical, orderly, efficient and transparent manner, benefiting the rights and interests of buyers, tenants, agents and real estate agencies and contributing to the economic and social development of the nation.
The project highlights that misleading advertising is any information, communication, message or commercial practice disseminated by any means, that induces or may induce error in the consumer regarding the characteristics, availability, price, conditions of sale, delivery or any other relevant aspect related to real estate, governed by Law 358-05 on the Protection of the Rights of the Consumer or User.
Article 3 of the legislation specifies that the following are excluded from its scope: sales and marketing of real estate owned by the owner, carried out directly by the owner, as well as the representation and legal advice provided for the acquisition and transfer of real estate by professionals in the exercise of their profession.
This law includes severe sanctions such as suspension of operations and economic penalties with fines of up to 50 minimum wages for violations, suspension of operations or licenses of real estate development agents, among other points of interest.
The bill states that this law will be governed by the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED), which is the body responsible for designing, regulating, developing and promoting real estate intermediation activities in the country.
It also states that the Department of Registration, Control and Real Estate Intermediation of the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED) will have the purpose of promoting orderly, efficient and transparent real estate intermediation and ensuring compliance with this law.
Recommended readings:
- Real estate brokerage law: an outstanding task in the National Congress
- Meetings continue in the Chamber of Deputies with a view to promoting a bill to regulate real estate brokerage in the Dominican Republic
- In the proposed real estate brokerage law, MIVHED would have the supervision and regulation of the market
