How to Lodge a Complaint Against Property Agent in Malaysia
So the agent told you that he will find you the best room in town tomorrow, or that landlord had agreed to your request, but only find out later that it was not true. The agent never met the landlord before nor did he manage to convince the landlord anything. He insisted for you to pay him deposit first and promised to find you the dream house the next day, but he didn’t.
In the end, the agent may still be able to find you a property/room, but it was nothing like he promised earlier. Of course you are not happy, so you want to file a complaint for the unprofessional conduct of the agent, but how? If you complain to his boss, would his boss really take action? Is there a central governing body that you can voice your dissatisfaction to, in Malaysia? Luckily, there is.
BOVAEA (Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Malaysia) was set up in 1981 under the purview of the Ministry of Finance. The primary function of BOVAEA is to regulate, you guess it, the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents practicing in Malaysia. So they are the one you should talk to if you have a problem with unprofessional real estate agent or negotiator.
If you want to complain a property agent, you must have sufficient information and evidence for BOVAEA to investigate and take action.
Step 1 Find the details of the agent
You need to have his name as in IC or Name as in business card, IC number, REN number (a unique number assigned to them by BOVAEA) or mobile number. As long as you have either one of it, you should be fine. Then head to this link: http://202.171.45.204:8080/lppeh/search?form&find=Test
Key in the information and search for it, if the name appears, then you just got the information about this property that you need. If it doesn’t, try a few different combinations. Those rogue agents know how to protect themselves too, I met an agent before that ALL of his info on business card, are NOT match with any of his registered info with BOVAEA. However, I managed to find his IC in the tenancy agreement and file a complaint against him, anyway, that’s a story for another time.
Step 2 File your complaint
Write to BOVAEA here, provide the details of the property agent, state your case and wait for their reply. In that the link is not working for whatever reason, leave a comment in this article and I’ll send you their emails. Keep a copy of any evidence that you have, such as tenancy agreement, messages or anything else. BOVAEA should get back to you in one or two working days (at least that’s how long I waited).
BOVAEA might ask for more information or clarification, just answer them or provided them whatever that they need to initiate a case for that agent.
Step 3 Just wait….
Usually BOVAEA will confirm with you either they accept or decline your request. As long as you can provide the relevant information and evidence to back up your case, this usually is not a problem.
BOVAEA will then forward the information that you submitted to the Real Estate Agent (the agency company that employs the negotiator) and seek their explanation on this matter.
The disciplinary tribunal of that agency will conduct its own investigation including hearing the other side of the story from the negotiator.
If that negotiator is found to have any professional misconduct in his or her dealing in the process, the agency will take action against them, such as issuing a warning letter or dismissal, depending on the seriousness of the case and past record of that negotiator.
After this they will submit the outcome of the investigation to BOVAEA, which will decide if they accept the explanation. If they do, they will still pass on the information to you and see if you are agreeable to the outcome of the investigation. If you do not, you may choose to
That’s it, it’s simple and straight forward to officially complain about a property agent.
Other than that, if you are very dissatisfied with the particular agent, you can sue him/her, all you need to is get advice from a lawyer or law firm.
