The number of real estate brokers flocking to get licences to avoid punishment has skyrocketed.

A recent decree stipulates that brokers found working without a licence will be fined up to VND60 million (US$2,600).

Besides, they face fines of hundreds millions of dong if they provide wrong information about any product.

After the regulation came into effect, thousands of brokers in HCM City and southern provinces have joined training courses, 10 times higher than a few months ago, vnexpress.net reported.

The training covers the Housing Law, Land Law, Construction Law, Law of Real Estate Business, Civil Code Law and Commercial Law, ethics and basic knowledge about being a broker.

Le Phuong Dong, head of the Viet Nam Association of Real Estate Brokers representative office in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta said the number of people sitting examinations to get the certificate in May was 576, double the number from a year ago.

The Mogin Institute in HCM City’s District 1 said only 55 people applied for the examination in January, but the figure jumped to 150 in March.

The CEO of a property brokerage in Thu Duc City said half his 100 employees do not have a practising licence and have to urgently apply for training courses.

The boss of another company in HCM City said the number of brokers constantly changes depending on the season, and to ensure the quality of staff is high, his company requires new employees to get certified within six months.

Luong Dinh Thuy Van, CEO of Mogin, said the 2015 Real Estate Business Law is also a reason for the scramble.

It stipulates that all brokers have to have a practising certificate, which is valid for five years.

All certificates issued in 2015 expired in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant restrictions most brokers could not renew it, causing them flock to traning centres to get a new certificate since the beginning of this year.

Pham Lam, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Association of Real Estae Brokers, had a different view on the issue.

He attributed the rush to companies seeking to improve their human resource quality.

Getting a licence is necessary to ensure workers are adequately qualified, he said.

In recent times critics have been panning brokers as being the reason for negative issues in the real estate market by providing wrong information to clients and colluding with each other to push prices up. —VNS