Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 July 2017
128. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the regulatory system for estate agents particularly with regard to the validity and truthfulness of rival house price offers that are submitted during the house bidding process; his plans to introduce tighter regulation of this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31597/17]
View answerThe Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) was formally established on 3 April 2012, pursuant to the Property Services (Regulation) Act, 2011. One of the main statutory functions of the PSRA is the licensing of Property Service Providers, i.e. auctioneers, estate and letting agents and property management agents. The Authority is independent in the performance of its functions. Under Part 7 of the Act, the Authority may also investigate complaints of improper conduct made against licensees and, where improper conduct is found to have occurred, may impose sanctions on the licensee, subject to appeal under Part 8 and potentially, subject to High Court approval, up to and including loss of licence.
Section 61 of the Act requires licensees to retain a record of all offers received, including conditional acceptances, in respect of each property offered for sale for a period of six years. Any failure to retain such records would constitute improper conduct and would render the licensee eligible for investigation and sanction under Part 7. In a similar vein, during 2015, the PSRA commenced a programme of compliance audits using the powers granted to it under Part 7. It is a standard feature of these audits to check that bids on properties have been retained in compliance with section 61 and any failure to do so renders the licensee liable to the full range of sanctions contained in Part 7. Additionally, Section 58 of the Act prevents licensees from accepting bids at auction from the owners of properties for sale and those connected with them and, again, a licensee found to be in contravention of this section is liable to be investigated and sanctioned under Part 7.
In terms of transparency generally in the property market, the Deputy may wish to note that the PSRA maintains a Residential Property Prices Register which contains prices for all residential properties sold in the State. Anybody wishing to gain an insight into the market rate for properties in a given area may consult this register at www.psr.ie when considering and or making a bid.
