The Tribune

• Wants MoU with international real estate associations

• Warns BREA members foreign co-brokering unlawful

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) president yesterday said she wants “law and order” in this country and made a stand on co-brokering with foreign agents as she justifies the need for BREA to have Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with foreign real estate associations.

Christine Wallace-Whitfield told Tribune Business that under no circumstance is there to be any co-brokering with any foreign agent or foreign real estate company with any Bahamian real estate company.

She said: “BREA members should be reminded that co-brokerage with a foreign agent is not permitted under law and not permitted under the Bilateral Agreement – real estate business must be conducted by a BREA licensed agent and foreign agents are paid only a referral fee for referring the business.”

The Real Estate Act, Brokers and Salesman Act 1995, states that any person practising real estate business on behalf of a third party is to be duly licensed under the Act. With the Bilateral Agreement with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), foreign agents are only allowed to refer their business to a licensed BREA Broker or Salesman and in doing so receive payment of a referral fee up to 25 percent. The NAR Bilateral Agreement basically indicates that when wanting to undertake real estate business in a foreign country like the Bahamas, the agent must adhere to our licensing and immigration laws.

The bilateral agreement with the NAR is not the only agreement BREA has signed on to as just recently they have signed agreements with the Long Island, New York and Sarasota, Florida real estate associations, of which Ms Wallace-Whitfield said: “We are also working in Miami and other cities in Florida and what is important is that what the associations should do is they educate their members on how business is done in terms of if they have customers and clients who are selling property in The Bahamas, they must always refer. We just want them to be aware that it is illegal to come into The Bahamas and sell property if you are not a Bahamian.

“We would not dare go over to the US and try to sell property. We do have instances where expats living here wanting to sell their property in the US and we tell them all the time that they have to deal with someone in the US for that, or in the state you are trying to sell the property. The only thing we can do is refer them to a real estate agent in that state, because we do have that bilateral agreement with the NAR and we can easily find them a reputable and licensed realtor, but that’s about as far as we can go.”

Catching foreign agents selling property in The Bahamas is a problem that pops up from time to time, she added: “In the beginning of the year and during the year of COVID-19 we noticed an increase in it, but we haven’t seen too many, but we do still hear that a lot of these foreign companies that come and they put up signs on various out islands, not so much in Nassau, but they do try to get other Family Islands like the ones closer to Florida like Bimini or the Berry Islands where they feel no one would see them.”

But BREA sees them and knows about all of the tactics foreign realtors try to use to skirt around the laws and regulations of The Bahamas and it is why such a frantic pace is being made to ensure that these MoU’s are signed with as many US real estate agencies so that a fair understanding can be made on what not to do in The Bahamas.

There is no leeway for a foreign real estate company to sell property in The Bahamas without paying stamp duty at the very least, which would require a lawyer to assist with the paperwork, something Ms Wallace-Whitfield understands.

“We are asking the attorneys to assist us because they would need an attorney to help close the transaction, so that is our next step also to go to the Bahamas Bar Association (BBA) and have a sit down with them,” she said.

“We just want law and order in this country. We want it done right and we would like for everyone to be on board. We have to use an attorney with our transactions and we have to make sure we register and ensure all of our customers and clients are registered and that we have done our KYC (know your customer) and due diligence. So we do everything by the book and so we are asking the legal profession to help us and make sure that these contracts and agreements are from licensed real estate agents here in The Bahamas.”