HLURB: Ads now part of real estate sales warranty

MANILA, Philippines - Real estate owners and developers may now be compelled to uphold any claims they make in advertisements, based on new rules released by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) yesterday.

The agency released two sets of revised implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) for Presidential Decree 957 or the “Subdivision and Condominium Buyers’ Protective Decree” to protect prospective buyers of real estate properties from possible fraud and other malpractices in the industry.

It said all representations in an advertisement shall form part of the sales warranties enforceable against the owner or developer, jointly and severally.

“Such owner or developer shall be answerable and liable for the facilities, improvements, infrastructures, or other forms of development represented or promised in an advertisement and failure to timely and completely fulfill these representations shall constitute breach of contract and warranties,” the IRR stated.

The amended IRRs were contained in Board Resolution 921 and 922, signed by Vice President Jejomar Binay on Dec. 2 last year. The IRRs were published in The STAR yesterday.

Binay is the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council or HUDCC.

Board Resolution 921, also known as the Revised IRR on Advertisements, stated that any announcement about a project, or about its operations or activities, must reflect the real facts and must be presented in a manner that will not tend to mislead or deceive the public.

The IRR states that the owner, developer, dealer, authorized broker or salesperson shall be allowed to advertise about the project only after the issuance of the project’s license to sell and after the HLURB has approved the advertisement material.

“To enable the public or prospective buyers to make an informed choice on their purchase or acquisition, any advertisement about a project must indicate material facts…” it said.

Meanwhile, Board Resolution 922 or the “2014 Revised IRR on Dealers, Brokers and Salesmen” stated that all brokers and salespersons must be registered and licensed or accredited by the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service before they can engage in the practice of real estate services.

Also under the revised IRR, all business firms shall likewise first register with the HLURB in accordance with its existing rules and guidelines before they can engage in the practice of real estate service.

All applicants shall file a bond or security of P5,000 for dealers and brokers and P1,000 for salespersons. All business firms, on the other hand, shall post a bond of P20,000.

Any dealer, broker, salesperson and business firm who engages in real estate practice without registering the project with the HLURB or using an expired HLURB permit will be fined P10,000 and P5,000 respectively, the IRR said.