Buying or selling property is often one of the biggest financial decisions a person will make. Real estate agents play an important part. When a transaction fails, questions arise. What was the agent authorised to do? Is commission payable? Who is responsible?
The Real Estate Agent Authority Act 2020 (the Act) was enacted in 2020. Important provisions came into operation on 1 August 2026, together with two sets of regulations. Registration, written contracts and prescribed fees are now part of the framework in which real estate agents operate.
The five-part series
- Who must register (this article)
- How to register
- The duties of a registered agent
- Commission and the agency contract
- The consequences of non-registration
This is the first of five articles from SC Legal on the Act, as amended.
Since 1 August 2026, no one may act as a real estate agent without registration with the Real Estate Agent Authority (the Authority).
Many businesses are caught, including some that do not think of themselves as agents.
What is at stake
Acting without registration
Rs 100,000
fine, up to
2 years
imprisonment, up to
Any other contravention of the Act
Rs 50,000
fine, up to
12 months
imprisonment, up to
Acting as an agent without registration is an offence. The penalty is a fine of up to Rs 100,000 and imprisonment of up to two years. The same applies to holding yourself out as an agent. An unregistered person also commits an offence by demanding, suing for or recovering any charge for agency services, whether by claim or counterclaim. An unregistered agent therefore risks an offence by claiming commission.
Any other contravention of the Act carries a fine of up to Rs 50,000 and imprisonment of up to 12 months. Using the services of a person who is suspended, or who has been removed from the Register, is professional misconduct.
Who must register
The test is whether a person carries out a real estate transaction in the course of a business. That covers negotiating a sale, purchase or lease, procuring buyers, sellers or tenants, managing real estate, advertising as an agent and receiving payment for a transaction.
- Negotiating a sale, purchase or lease
- Procuring buyers, sellers or tenants
- Managing real estate
- Advertising as an agent
- Receiving payment for a transaction
The definition expressly includes land promoters and property developers. A private owner who sells his own home is unlikely to be acting in the course of a business.
A company applies in its own name. Each company in a group that acts as a real estate agent must therefore be registered itself.
The deadline
In operation
1 Aug 2026
Last day to apply
31 Jan 2027
Six months for existing operators to apply
The Act requires a person who was already acting as an agent to apply for registration not later than six months after commencement. The relevant provision came into operation on 1 August 2026. Six months from that date ends on 31 January 2027. That is the latest date for existing operators to apply. Applying early is prudent.
The deadline is for applying. It is not a grace period for acting.
The transitional provision does not suspend the registration requirement or the offences. Nothing in the Act protects an agent who has applied but is not yet registered. A person who starts acting after 1 August 2026 is outside the transitional provision and must register first.
Three questions to ask
- Do we negotiate, market, procure parties for or receive payment on real estate transactions as part of our business?
- Are we a land promoter or a property developer, whether or not we sell through third parties?
- Do we advertise, or hold ourselves out, as being in the business of negotiating sales or leases of real estate?
If the answer to any of them is yes, take advice now.
Next in this series
Part 2 explains how to register.
About the author
Attorney-at-Law | SC Legal
Yeshnah practises in commercial litigation, civil law, employment law, corporate governance, transactional drafting and international commercial arbitration.
operations@scarrimlegal.com
shaheena@scarrimlegal.com
WhatsApp +230 5255 2410
See also our real estate and property practice.
This article is general information. It is not legal advice. Please take advice on your own facts.