The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

PERSONS in New Providence seeking a real estate broker’s license no longer have to be employed in the business full-time, Bahamas Real Estate (BREA) president Franon Wilson telling Tribune Business yesterday that the Association had  updated its policy to reflect a recent Supreme Court judgment.

According to Mr Wilson, since its inception 50 years ago BREA had held to the position that an individual in Nassau had to be employed full-time in real estate to obtain a salesman or broker’s license.

But, in a notice sent out to the Association’s 600 members, Mr Wilson said that  BREA has been involved in litigation on that point since 2006, with the Supreme Court having found that whether an individual is full-time or part-time should not be a consideration when granting a license.

“It was always full-time in Nassau. In the FamilyIslands, BREA has always maintained that there was not enough work there for persons to be full-time. In Nassau, you had to be full time,” Mr Wilson explained.

“By allowing  individuals to be part-time in New Providence, that now opens the door for a lot of people to get their license who really would have been refused up to today.”

Mr Wilson said the move was evidence of the fact that BREA was constantly reviewing its policies, noting comments by a former BREA president, Patrick Strachan, who yesterday said he had received numerous complaints from members about policies being implemented by BREA which affected them negatively.

“For example, if a member’s dues are late, he or she is struck off the register,” Mr Strachan said. 

“And they are forced to complete the licensing process all over again.  That must be wrong. I could understand the Association charging a late fee, but to tell a person they have to go through the licensing process all over again, there has to be something wrong with that.

“This is one of the many reasons why the power ought to be taken out of the hands of BREA and given to a government-appointed body.  It is the right thing to do.  This is just one of the numerous examples where there appears to be a goal to marginalise real estate agents in this country.”

Mr Wilson told Tribune Business: “I can assure the public as president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association that we are constantly reviewing  BREA’s policies.  That review of our policies is what has led to the Board changing several of its policies. Most recently, they have changed a policy that said individuals had to be employed in Nassau full-time to obtain a salesman or brokers license.”