Housing regulator MahaRERA will conduct the first ever examination for certification of real-estate agents in the state on May 20. Four hundred and fifty-seven agents, who have completed the basic course for their professional certification, are set to appear for the examination in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Dhule, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune and Solapur.
On January 10, 2023, MahaRERA had issued a new circular, making it mandatory for real-estate agents to undergo professional training and obtain certification from it before plying their trade as property agents. It outlined a process whereby all the 39,000 agents registered with it as well as new aspirants had to acquire MahaRERA certification before September 1.
The authority, over the past two years, developed a basic curriculum for property agent training, and empaneled trainers to impart training in online, offline and hybrid forms from the first week of February. It has collaborated with the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection for undertaking online examinations so that estate agents who clear the exams can be given a certificate of competency.
From September 2023, the promoters will also have to ensure that the names and addresses of property agents that they submit, to comply with RERA provisions, possess valid competency certificates.
The examination will set in motion the structural changes for estate agents aimed at improving transparency in real-estate transactions. In February, MahaRERA had issued another circular to agents, requiring them to mandatorily submit half-yearly reports of their transactions in line with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) guidelines issued in November 2022.
The circular also made it mandatory for agents with business of more than Rs 20 lakh to appoint a principal officer and a designated director in their firms and update the record with the Authority as per the guidelines issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These changes will allow a tighter scrutiny of property transactions and help law-enforcement agencies trace transactions in money-laundering investigations.
Section 10 (b) of RERA and Maharashtra Rule 11 (5) under the Act already mandate estate agents to maintain and preserve books of accounts, records and documents separately for each project, whereas Maharashtra Rule 16 prescribes that these records be produced for inspection as and when required under the IT Act and the Companies Act.
