MahaRERA makes Certification Compulsory for Real Estate Agents

MahaRERA issued a press note MahaRERA, the state’s regulatory body said. Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), has made it mandatory for all property agents to have a valid ‘Real Estate Agent Certificate of Competency’ after clearing the MahaRERA exam failing which they will not be eligible for fresh registration nor will they be able to renew their old one. This order will come into effect from January 1, 2024.

MahaRERA had introduced the exam and had made it compulsory for estate agents to get training and to appear and clear the exam. The idea was to equip them with all the laws, rules and regulations and procedures of property sales as they are the main mediators between the buyer and seller of property.

The new set of rules also applies to developers and promoters of real estate projects, property firms who are hereby requested to only allow those agents to operate on their behalf who have a valid competency certificate. The note reported that, failing to this, suitable actions will be initiated by the authority.

From now onwards,only the certified agents will be listed on project websites as per MahaRERA’s directive. As of now, nearly 8,000 agents have qualified through three examinations conducted so far by MahaRERA.

Earlier MahaRERA issued the rules on Jan10th this year stated that, agent training and certification for registration or renewal will be mandatory from Jan 2024.

Agents in the real estate sector are very important links between home buyers and developers. They are often the first contact customers make. Clients get primary information regarding the project from them.

Amit Shah, a broker from Mumbai’s Prabhadevi area says that the regulatory body should give more time for more agents to appear for the exam. He further added, “Instead of wielding a stick they should adopt an encouraging strategy. After all, only 44,000 estate agents are registered with MahaRERA which is not a big number. Many of these have not even appeared for the exam. They will have to be given time to do so. We need to open the space to rope in more brokers and the only way to do this is by giving them time to enroll and pass the exam.”