Why RENs cannot work remotely?
Many a time, remote places have new branches of agents who set things up for themselves. They aspire to operate a new team of RENs for a network of real estate agency business. Is this legitimate?
The law prescribes that the RENs are assisting the Registered Estate Agents, as in S.22C(2)(d) and S.22C (2A) The law is verbatim below:
S.22C (2)(d) A negotiator may assist a registered estate agent in the estate agency practice.
S.22C (2A) For the purpose of paragraph (2)(d), “negotiator” means a person who is employed by a registered estate agent to assist him in the estate agency practice.
Therefore, a team of RENs can operate business of estate agency practice as long as they are supervised by a REA. The reason is Negotiator is not the prescribed legal person to carry out estate agency practice, it is the REA in law who has the authority to practice to shoulder this responsibility.
Now that there is no REA for the remote branch, the RENs are operating illegally. This, many RENs do NOT want to understand. Obviously for the reasons of business gains. BUT, they blame it on the strict and rigid enforcement of the law and regulation.
There are excuses like in practice most of the deals are settled:
- Without the need of supervision by REA
- Without complain as they can comply to the law well without REA
- With the help of the lawyers
- Even with REA, many issues still cannot be solved
Some of the RENs even think that they is redundancy in operating agency by REA, and have the idea that law is to restrict wider services to the public. In their perspective, the public does NOT require any law to protect. It is just plain stupid if public cannot choose correctly, just blame onto yourself if you got cheated! Why you so stupid?