It has held a series of meetings with firms as part of an ongoing revamp of the system aimed at making the emirate’s real estate industry more transparent, said Al Hashmi, director of RERA's Real Estate Licensing Department.
The Real Estate Permits and Inspection Section has already carried out a study to monitor violations. Preliminary findings show that the top violations by brokers are hiding information from investors, failure to maintain the privacy of the firm and client, using telephone calls for promotion and advertisement purposes without obtaining official approval, and arranging deals without the knowledge of their accredited office.
Twelve companies failed to register the real estate broker, while seven companies violated the type of licensed activity by performing other activity.
Other irregularities include failure to mention the company's registration number, failure to register the licence in the brokerage registry and failure to renew the broker ID card.
‘RERA is working to create professional real estate environment in Dubai governed by clear laws and regulations,’ Sultan Al Suwaidi, section manager.
Fines totalling AED900,000 have been levied on 22 real estate companies and brokerage firms during the first half of this year. Yousef Al Hashmi, director of RERA's Real Estate Licensing Department, said the firms had been guilty of repeated violations of regulations.
The fines were issued after the companies failed to respond to warnings.‘Such procedure came as last step after exhausting all means to ensure compliance and safeguarding the rights of concerned parties,’ he added.
RERA said the regulations were being enforced in order to protect the rights of investors against any violations of laws and professional ethics that can be committed by real estate brokers.
Dubai real estate agents made a total of AED700 million ($190 million) in commission last year, according to figures from RERA.
Real estate brokers generally receive 1% of the deal value as a commission on successfully completed, unless parties agree otherwise.
