Malaysia legislation
Section 23
Section 23
(1A)
A sole proprietorship, partnership or body corporate may apply to the
Board for registration to practise valuation, appraisal, estate agency or property management in the form and manner, and accompanied by the fee, as prescribed by the Board.
(1B)
A sole proprietorship practising valuation, appraisal, estate agency or property management, as the case may be, shall not be registered by the Board unless—
(a)
the sole proprietor of the sole proprietorship is a registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager, as the case may be;
(b)
the interest in the sole proprietorship is vested solely in the sole proprietor; and
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(c)
the sole proprietor of the sole proprietorship satisfies all the conditions specified by the Board.
(2)
A partnership or body corporate practising valuation, appraisal, estate agency or property management, as the case may be, shall not be registered by the Board unless—
(a)
all partners of the partnership or all directors and shareholders of the body corporate are—
(i)
in the case of a valuation practice—
(A)
solely registered valuers;
(B)
a combination of registered valuers, registered appraisers, registered estate agents and registered property managers ; or
(C)
a combination of registered valuers and any other persons or bodies corporate;
(ii)
in the case of an appraisal practice—
(A)
solely registered appraisers;
(B)
a combination of registered appraisers, registered valuers, registered estate agents and registered property managers; or
(C)
a combination of registered appraisers and any other persons or bodies corporate;
(iii)
in the case of an estate agency practice—
(A)
solely registered agents;
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(B)
a combination of registered estate agents, registered valuers, registered appraisers and registered property managers ; or
(C)
a combination of registered estate agents and any other persons or bodies corporate; and
(iv)
in the case of a property management practice—
(A)
solely registered property managers;
(B)
a combination of registered property managers, registered valuers, registered appraisers and registered estate agents; or
(C)
a combination of registered property managers and any other persons or bodies corporate;
(b)
the shares in the partnership or body corporate are held—
(i)
in the case of a valuation practice, solely by registered valuers;
(ii)
in the case of an appraisal practice, solely by registered appraisers;
(iii)
in the case of an estate agency practice, solely by registered estate agents;
(iv)
in the case of a property management practice, solely by registered property managers; and
(v)
in the case of a partnership or body corporate where all partners of the partnership or all directors and shareholders of the body corporate are a combination of registered valuers, registered appraisers, registered estate agents and registered property managers and any other persons or bodies corporate—
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(A)
in the case of a valuation practice, by a majority of valuers who hold the majority interest and the voting rights;
(B)
in the case of an appraisal practice, by a majority of appraisers who hold the majority interest and the voting rights;
(C)
in the case of an estate agency practice, by a majority of estate agents who hold the majority interest and voting rights; and
(D)
in the case of a property management practice, by a majority of property managers who hold the majority interest and the voting rights.
(c)
it satisfies all the conditions specified by the Board.
(3)
Notwithstanding subsection (2), no estate agent which is a firm may carry on property management unless all of its partners, in the case of a partnership, or all of its shareholders and directors, in the case of a body corporate, are permitted by the Board to carry on property management and it may only carry on property management of the categories of property approved by the Board.
(4)
No registered valuer, appraiser or estate agent may, unless the Board so approves in writing, become or remain as a sole proprietor, partner, shareholder or director of more than one sole proprietorship, partnership or body corporate, as the case may be, practising valuation, appraisal or estate agency after this section comes into force.
(4A)
No registered property manager may, unless the Board so approves in writing, become or remain as a sole proprietor, partner, shareholder or director of more than one sole proprietorship, partnership or body corporate, as the case may be, practising property management.
(4B)
Notwithstanding subsection (2), (4) or (4A), the Board shall cancel the registration of a firm if the Board finds that—
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(a)
the firm or any of its partners or directors breaches or fails to comply with or fails to carry out any of the terms, conditions or restrictions imposed by the Board upon granting the approval;
(b)
the composition of the partners of the partnership or the directors of the body corporate practising valuation, appraisal, estate agency or property management does not comply with the requirement in subsection (2);
(c)
the shareholding of the partnership or body corporate practising valuation, appraisal, estate agency or property management does not comply with the requirement in subsection (2);
(d)
any partner of a partnership or director of a body corporate practising valuation, appraisal, estate agency or property management, whether such a partner or a director is a registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager or otherwise, commits, or contributes to, any of the acts specified in paragraphs
(a)
, (b) or (c); and
(e)
the firm has contravened any of the provisions of this Act or any of the rules made thereunder.
(5)
Where a registered valuer, appraiser or estate agent has, before the coming into force of this section as amended, been a sole proprietor, partner, shareholder or director of more than one firm, then, within two years from the date of coming into force of this section as amended, he shall divest his equity in all except one of the firms unless the Board approves otherwise in writing.
(6)
A registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager shall—
(a)
within one month of his becoming a sole proprietor, partner, shareholder or director of a firm; or
(b)
within one month of any change of partnership, shareholding or directorship of a firm, as the case may be, notify the Board in writing of such occurrence or change.
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(7)
Where a registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager practising as a sole proprietor is removed from the
Register or is suspended from practice, he shall within thirty days from the date of such removal or suspension, satisfy the Board that he has made suitable arrangements for making available to his client some other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager, as the case may be, during the period of his removal or suspension.
(8)
The registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager shall, when making available to his client some other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager under subsection (7)—
(a)
instruct the other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager to—
(i)
take over the management of his firm; and
(ii)
receive and account for all sums of money due to the firm and held by him or his firm on behalf of his clients; and
(b)
hand over to the other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager all documents, books of accounts, records and vouchers and any other document in his possession or control.
(9)
Where a registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager practising under a partnership arrangement is removed from the Register or suspended from practice, he shall, within thirty days from the date of such removal or suspension, satisfy the Board that he has made suitable arrangement to hand over all his clients and all relevant documents in his possession to his partner.
(10)
Where a registered firm is removed from the Register of Firms or all its partners or directors are suspended from practice, the partners or directors shall, within thirty days from the date of such removal or suspension, satisfy the Board that they have made suitable arrangements for making available to their clients some other registered valuation, appraisal, estate agency or
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property management firm, as the case may be, during the period of their removal or suspension.
(11)
The partners or directors of a registered firm shall, when making available to their clients some other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager under subsection (10)—
(a)
instruct the other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager to—
(i)
take over the management of their firm; and
(ii)
receive and account for all sums of money due to the firm and held by them or their firm on behalf of their clients;
and
(b)
hand over to the other registered valuer, registered appraiser, registered estate agent or registered property manager all documents, books of accounts, records and vouchers and any other document in their possession or control.
(12)
Where a registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager fails to comply with subsection (7) or (10), the Board may appoint another registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager, as the case may be, to manage his firm if the Board considers that his firm needs to be maintained in the public interest or in the interest of his clients or profession.
(13)
A registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager appointed under subsection (12) shall—
(a)
use his best endeavours to carry on and conduct the business in a proper and efficient manner;
(b)
receive and account for all sums of money due to the firm or held by him; and
(c)
make available for the Board’s inspection the whole of the accounting or other records of the firm.
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(14)
Where the registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager practising as a sole proprietor is dead, all rights to operate or otherwise deal with any banking account in the name of the valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager or his firm shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, vest in the personal representative of the registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager and shall be exercisable as from the death of the registered valuer, appraiser, estate agent or property manager to its conclusion subject to the approval and supervision of the Board.
(15)
For the purpose of subsection (14), “banking account” means a bank account into which clients’ money has been paid.