A PropNex Realty agent, Ngu Ping Chuan James Ethan, also known as James Ngu, was fined S$30,000 and is facing a 12-month suspension for three charges of breaches to the Council for Estate Agencies’ (CEA) Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care.

Pleaded guilty

In a statement by CEA on Monday, Oct. 21, this is the highest sentence that a CEA Disciplinary Committee has meted out on a property agent in disciplinary proceedings to-date.

What happened

Ngu, 39, was representing a client in the purchase of a condominium unit when he was " being unprofessional and unethical in a property transaction".

He pleaded guilty to three charges.

The CEA Disciplinary Committee also took into consideration five other charges.

His suspension periods run concurrently, starting from Oct. 15.

Client sought his help

In 2016, Ngu's client sought his help to source for a condominium unit that was about 800 sq ft or more in size, and in the price range of about S$900,000.

They viewed a property priced at S$1.04 million in the eastern part of Singapore in March 2017.

His client was keen on buying the property.

When Ngu questioned the seller's agent about the commission payable to him, he was told that the seller was willing to sell at S$1.02 million, with 1 per cent of commission (S$10,000) for Ngu.

Lied to his client

Ngu did not tell his client about the seller's offer.

Instead, he negotiated another offer on his own accord, demanding a commission of 2.5 to 3 per cent to be paid to him.

He then lied and told his client that the property was valued at S$1.18 million on average.

He suggested to his client to make an offer of S$1.06 million.

The client, however, did his own checks with a bank and found out that the estimated value of the property was about S$950,000 to S$1 million.

Despite that, he continued to engage in Ngu's service.

The client told Ngu to start negotiations for the purchase of the property on his behalf on April 2, 2017.

Two days later, Ngu told his client that his offer of S$950,000 was rejected.

He lied to his client again, saying that the seller had made a counter-offer of S$1.04 million.

CEA confirmed that there was no such offer made.

Negotiated without client's knowledge

On April 6, 2017, Ngu also went behind his client's back and told the seller's agent that his client was willing to purchase the property at S$1.04 million, with 3 per cent of commission (S$30,000) for himself.

The seller rejected and instead offered to pay a commission of 2 per cent to Ngu, and 1 per cent to his own agent.

Ngu rejected the seller’s proposal.

The seller’s agent then offered a sale price of $1.01 million, with Ngu collecting commission from his own client instead.

CEA revealed that Ngu did not convey the counter-offer to his client.

On April 11, 2017, Ngu advised his client not to proceed with the purchase of the property due to the alleged high price, but the actual reason was because he had failed to negotiate for a commission of 3 per cent of the sale price for himself.

Client found out

About two weeks later, Ngu's client contacted the seller’s agent to ask if the property was still available for sale.

He offered to purchase the property at S$1.04 million, which the seller accepted.

But that was when the seller's agent revealed that Ngu had previously made a similar offer of S$1.04 million, with the condition that he had to receive 3 per cent commission.

Ngu's client eventually suffered a loss of about S$20,000 to S$30,000 due to Ngu's wrongful conduct.

Advice from CEA

In its statement, CEA said:

"CEA advises consumers who choose to have a property agent to assist them in their property transactions to seek clarification from their agents when they have doubts on whether their agents’ interests could be in conflict or potential conflict with theirs.

Consumers should be informed in writing of any conflict or potential conflict of interest which may arise at any time during the property transaction."

Any unethical or unprofessional conduct can be reported to CEA at 1800-6432555 or [email protected].

Top photos via Pixabay & PropertyGuru.