How to spot a fake property agent when looking for a house

Searching for a house can be a hectic endeavour as one physically moves from one place to another, inspecting the state of the unit and whether it meets budget and taste requirements.

Although there has been a shift from needing to move physically from one house to another to locate a house with the growth of social media marketing, there has also been a rise in rogue 'agents' conning tenants and landlords.

Many people who call themselves property agents have no qualifications to back their titles and simply go showcasing houses, some of which they have no real access to, while others hike the fees charged to show and find houses for tenants.

Citizen Digital hosted a Twitter Space on Monday titled: “What are my rights and obligations as a tenant and landlord” with experts who shared among other topics, what one should look out for before engaging an agent when searching for property.

 Expert panelists Erick Mukaye, the CEO of property agency EMM Consult; and Ken Ashimosi, the managing partner of MAK & Partners Advocates, advised tenants to deal with agents registered with the Estate Agents Registration Board of Kenya (EARB) to avoid being scammed.

Ashimosi explained the Estate Agents Act regulates agents and how they should work.

“The Estate Agents Act has given powers to the Estate Agents Registration Board to manage the professions and agents are supposed to be registered under the act,” he said.

“The board has the obligation to publish the list of duly registered agents in the Kenya Gazette and other media outlets to ensure the information reaches the public.”

The list shows agents who have been registered as well as those who have been struck off the registry.

Mukaye urged tenants not to take shortcuts, because cheap is expensive.

“If you are serious about getting professional service, you will not mind paying an agent. The reason people fear going to proper agents is because they think they are expensive,” he said.

Ashimosi said it is illegal for an agent to purport to practise if they are not registered.

He also pointed out that there is a prescribed amount agents should charge and it should not be arbitrary. It is usually a scale based on percentages and is contained in the Estate Agents Act.

The Act states that for residential lettings of more than a year, fees of one month’s rent is to be charged, while for lettings below one year, it is 7.5% of the annual gross rent.

For commercial lettings, the rate is 7.5% of the annual gross rent for a sole agency and 10% of the annual gross rent for a general agency.

Negotiations are allowed, but should not be less than half the scale.

Mukaye pointed out that tenants should not be scared by agents’ fees.

“The provisions on the remuneration fees are such that lots of times it's the landlord who pays the agent for the agency work. It is not the tenant who pays,” he said.

“Sometimes you think you're saving by not going to qualified agents, but you lose money in the process and that has happened a lot in this country.”

The Twitter Space discussion also discussed the checklist for tenants and landlords before getting into a lease agreement, obligations of each party and how to end the tenant-landlord relationship legally.

Citizen Digital hosts Twitter Spaces frequently on property and other topics. Look out for the next space, which will be announced on our social media pages.