The real estate agency/brokerage sector is fast growing in Ghana, particularly in the cities as a result of the inability of people to leave their busy schedules in search of houses or rooms to rent or buy on one hand and landlords and property owners unable to reach their targeted audience.
The industry has also created a lot of job opportunities for many people on a full-time or part-time basis.
Aside from companies that are registered as real estate agencies or brokerages like Senco Properties & Investment and employing people to work with the company as agents, there are also individual agents who work on their own.
This has given birth to the Real Estate Agency Act – 2020 which establishes the Real Estate Agency Council in Ghana. The Council is fully constituted and comes into force and will be the main regulator of the industry.
The role of Real Estate Agents and brokers is also acknowledged and captured in the Rent Act 1960 (ACT 220) which establishes the Rent Control Department of Ghana.
Offenses by Agent under the Rent Act
The Head of Public Relations of Rent Control, Emmanuel Hovey Kporsu, who granted an interview to the Daily Graphic in Accra, said the “department was mandated to work cooperatively with landlords and tenants to promote optimum peaceful co-existence through education and reconciliation, while providing guidance on rent matters, in compliance with the Rent Act.
He said in spite of the laws that stipulated fees and rent advance to be collected, charges had been grossly violated by both landlords and “illegal agents”.
Interpreting Section 25, Sub-section (1)(c) of the Rent Act, he said the law recognized rent agents and specified the amount they were to charge after securing vacant apartments for prospective tenants.
He said under the current law, landlords were not supposed to collect more than six months’ rent advance, and that a landlord could give only five per cent of the money to a rent agent as commission.
“They are to collect five per cent (5%) per annum, and this does not mean the landlord can take one year advance from a tenant and then give five per cent of that to the rent agent,” the officer said.
He said if the tenant was staying in the house for the next five years, the landlord was not supposed to pay another commission to the rent agent after a maximum of one year.
“So the 10 per cent rent agents charge per tenant and then go to the landlord to collect another 10 per cent is illegal and offensive under the Rent Act; if found guilty by a magistrate court, a person can go to jail for a maximum of two years or be fined GH¢10,000 maximum”, he said.
Complied By:
Mawuli Senyo | senyo[@]sencodevelopers.com
+233201950509 or +233244114886
Senco Properties & Investment and Senco Global Developers Ltd.