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* to regulate a licensed agent's advertisement to ensure that such advertisement is reasonably accurate and is placed in accordance with clients' instructions.
"To ensure impartiality, EAA members will be drawn from the trade (not more than one-third of members, excluding the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman), related professions and the community," Mr Wong said.
The proposed legislation will stipulate the duties of a licensed estate agent. These will include duties to supply specified information about a property to a client (for example: ownership, floor area and year of completion), to inform a vendor of any offer made, to fully disclose his pecuniary and other beneficial interests in a transaction, and to conduct transactions in a fair, open, and honest manner.
"To avoid disputes arising from oral instructions, a written estate agency agreement between a licensed estate agent and a client will be required. The EAA will have power to prescribe the form and the particulars to be contained in such an agreement," he said.
The EAA will also make rules to require estate agents to keep clients' money in a separate bank account.
The proposed legislation will apply to transactions involving overseas properties conducted through a licensed agent in Hong Kong. The EAA will have power to make rules to regulate the conduct and practice of estate agents handling overseas properties.
Failure to comply with certain provisions of the proposed legislation or with the regulations to be made by the EAA will be subject to a fine of up to $500,000 and imprisonment for up to two years.
As a redress channel for any person aggrieved by a decision of the EAA concerning matters such as renewal, refusal, suspension and revocation of a licence, the Estate Agents Bill will empower the Secretary for Housing to appoint an independent appeal panel to consider any such case, and confirm, vary or reverse the decision of the EAA.
The EAA will be set up as a self-financing authority which will fund its operation through licence fees and fees for other services provided, such as fees for inspecting the register of licensees.
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