Creba backs up efforts to amend RESA law

THE Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) has renewed its support to ongoing legislative moves to change key provisions of Republic Act 9646, otherwise known as the Real Estate Service Act of 2009 (RESA law).

It said in a statement that the law has to be kept responsive to the challenges of the times to address its negative economic impacts to developers and real-estate professionals nationwide, especially during this pandemic affecting the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos.

The group of real-estate industry players cited Section 28 of the law that prohibits developers to sell their own properties is counter-productive and puts landowners in a very unfavorable position.

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Reacting to House Bill 8233 filed by Congressman Joseph Stephen Paduano, Creba National Chairman Charlie A. V. Gorayeb feared that the proposed abrogation of the degree program of Bachelor of Science in Real Estate Management (BS-REM) requirement under Section 14(b) would negate the very spirit of the law.

Since schools began offering the course created specifically by Resa, there have been a dismal number of new BS-REM graduates and licensees, mainly attributed to faculty shortage and low level of awareness and interest among parents and students.

Creba said that the government alone should be held accountable for its failure to educate the public and build a strong and sustainable cooperation with the academic sector and the industry immediately after the law took effect.

It argued that if the government wanted to urge enrollees, state colleges and universities should have taken the lead in offering the course years ago.

For its part, Creba has tied up with learning institutions and fully supported 27 poor but deserving students who are, in a few months time, moving up to their senior year as BS-REM scholars at the University of Batangas in Lipa City and will soon become full-pledged real-estate entrepreneurs.

With real estate salespersons in mind, the organization would like to push a more relaxed set of scholastic requirements to be accredited and registered with the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service since there have been thousands of such agents earning a decent living from legitimately offering properties even before the enactment of RESA.

Given that K to 12 is in place, Creba National President Noel Toti M. Cariño suggested to lessen the academic requirements for salespersons provided that they undergo relevant training and are certified to possess sufficient knowledge and experience by the licensed broker supervising them.

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Likewise, the group called on lawmakers to revisit Section 34 of the law which has long divided and confused stakeholders about the “accredited and integrated professional organization.”

The issue, it said, must be settled once and for all to unify the multidisciplinary stakeholders who all have vital roles in the growth of the property sector being heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the wake of the passage of Republic Act 11521 that extended the mandatory reporting coverage to real-estate developers and brokers to further intensify government crackdown on potential anti-money laundering activities, Creba also appealed against the additional mandatory registration and surety bond deposits with the Department of Human Settlements as efficient electronic data sharing may be done between all concerned agencies upon submission by the licensed real-estate professionals of all relevant information to the Professional Regulation Commission.

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Article and Photo originally posted by Business Mirror last May 12, 2021 and written by Roderick Abad.

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