Real estate agency ERA censured by regulator for lapses in agent supervision

Source: Business Times
Article Date: 09 Jan 2026
Author: Ry-Anne Lim

This is only the second time a property agency has been issued a censure, and the first against a major industry player.

Property agency ERA has been issued a letter of censure by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) for three breaches under the Code of Practice for Estate Agents (Copea).

This is only the second time a property agency has been issued a censure, and the first against a major industry player.

A case study published by the regulator on Thursday (Jan 8) showed ERA had failed to ensure that one of its salespersons, Abel Ang, did not post advertisements containing misleading or inaccurate information.

Ang was fined S$14,000 and suspended for five months, from October 2023 to March 2024.

The case arose after CEA received multiple complaints against Ang for advertisement-related breaches, such as posting listings with inaccurate pricing, and for having misleading or inaccurate information on the property listed.

CEA said it approached Eugene Lim, ERA’s key executive officer (KEO), in March 2022, advising the agency to vet Ang’s advertisements for accuracy before they were posted.

However, CEA continued to receive complaints and uncovered more advertisements with inaccurate property pricing posted by Ang, even after his suspension ended in March 2024.

Ang was referred to the CEA disciplinary committee again; in October 2025, he was fined S$28,000 and suspended for a further six months.

“Due to the numerous instances of inaccurate and misleading advertisements by Ang, and the fact that breaches continued to occur after CEA’s advisory to ERA’s KEO, it was clear that ERA failed to carry out its responsibility under Copea,” said the council.

CEA also found that, during Ang’s suspension in January 2024, his profile remained active on ERA’s portal, along with the profiles of two other suspended ERA salespersons.

This led to a second breach of Copea, with ERA failing to put in place proper systems and processes to manage and supervise suspended agents, CEA said.

Additionally, Ang was required to return his estate agent card to ERA following his suspension in October 2023, but failed to do so. While ERA initially notified Ang, it did not follow up, and the card was recovered only in February 2024 after CEA alerted the agency.

CEA noted that ERA did not have a system at the time to track whether suspended salespersons had returned their estate agent cards, nor a standard process to deal with those who failed to do so.

For these lapses, ERA was found to have breached multiple provisions under Copea, including requirements for agencies to properly supervise their salespersons, maintain documented management systems, and recover estate agent cards from suspended or deregistered representatives.

It was issued a letter of censure by the CEA in December 2025.

ERA was also issued composition notices for three contraventions of the Estate Agents Act, for continuing to associate with three suspended salespersons by leaving their profiles active on its portal when they were not registered.

ERA KEO Lim said in a statement that the issues identified were related to process enhancements in the management and supervision of suspended salespersons, rather than consumer harm.

He explained that the profiles of the suspended salespersons remained visible on ERA’s portal due to “technical delays in deactivating their profiles after suspension”.

The agency has since enhanced “tracking and escalation processes” to recover the estate agent cards of suspended salespersons.

Lim added that ERA has also reviewed and enhanced its systems to strengthen oversight, improve compliance tracking and reinforce follow-up and enhancement measures.

“This review has also helped us identify areas for further strengthening staff training to ensure a clearer understanding, consistency and accountability in the supervision of suspended salespersons,” he said.

“We acknowledge that we could have done better and take responsibility for addressing these gaps. We view this as an important learning point – not just for ERA, but for the wider industry – and hope it contributes to stronger supervisory practices across agencies.”

In May 2025, another real estate agency, Pristine Properties, was censured was failing to retain possession of all documents relating to the tenancy agreement for a lease renewal transaction for at least five years.

It was also rapped for breaching anti-money laundering regulations when it “failed to put in place the required risk assessment, internal controls and compliance management arrangements in relation to the assessment and management of money laundering and terrorism financing risks”. A financial penalty of S$5,000 was imposed.