Real Estate Agents in Belize are not regulated as they are in the United States or Canada. Furthermore, the fact that they operate under a franchise does not in any way suggest or guarantee that they operate under the same principles or regulations of their counter parts in the USA.
How to identify the most trusted Real Estate Agents?
Most Real Estate Agents in Belize that I have met personally are sincere and rational.
The most trusted Real Estate Agents are the ones that recommend that you contact an Attorney to assist with the purchase of the property once you have decided on a property to purchase.
An attorney in Belize, will protect your interest since his very obligation once retained is to act on behalf of you the Purchaser. One must always be cognizant of the fact that a Real Estate Agent that is selling properties for a Vendor owe a duty to the Vendor by virtue of their written listing agreement and as such they act for and on behalf of the Vendor.
Stay clear of Real Estate Agents who constantly say the following:
a) “Attorneys in Belize are expensive”,
– This is untrue. Most most attorneys charge between 1.2 % to 2 % of the purchase price to assist with your transfer documents which includes preparing the sale agreement and ensuring that you receive your title.
b) We can assist you with the transfer of your property for the same cost of the attorney.
– Unfortunately, there are a few real estate agents doing this; however, what they fail to inform individuals is that they owe no duty or obligation to the purchaser since there are no laws regulating their actions. Therefore, if they fail to make good their commitment after being paid i.e. they overlook the transfer of a pier that was to come with your property, or they failed to protect your interest in an agreement and you loose your property, then you will be left with little or no option to recoup the loss of funds stemming from their actions.
– In most cases, they will refuse to execute an agreement binding them to any terms or commitments to you suggesting that they will guarantee to you any protections.
c) We are trained and have been transferring property for over 10 years.
– The fact that this individual or his company has been transferring property for over a number of years does not guarantee that they have been doing so properly. All real estate transactions are not the same and each transaction should receive the same attention as any other. Therefore, there is no one “Sale Agreement” or generic “fill in the blanks agreement” that one can utilize for every sale.
d) We are a trusted brand, we have many locations in the USA and we know what we are doing, you don’t need an attorney.
– As indicated above, the laws in the USA and Canada that regulate these well known franchise Real Estate Agents are NOT found in Belize. Therefore there are no laws in Belize that allow real estate agents to be sanctioned for their actions or any failure to protect a client.
e) Our company is a large company. We will use two agents for this transaction, one agent will act for the Vendor and the other will act for you.
– There is no true “Chinese Wall” when it comes to agents of a Real Estate Company. Again, there are no laws that enable a Chinese wall to be created which would clearly protect a buyer and ensure his or her that whatever communication had between them would not be provided to the other real estate agents within the said company.
f) We work with a closing company in Belize, that is faster and cheaper !
– Again, unlike in the USA and Canada there are no regulated closing company. There are no regulations or laws in Belize which establish a fiduciary responsibilities between a purchaser and the “closing company”. As a result a great deal of companies have surfaced in Belize claiming to be a closing company, most of which are under trained and do not have an attorney working with them.
– I would strongly recommend that if you so choose to utilize a “closing company in Belize”, you (1) ask to meet their Attorney and you request an agreement from that closing company guaranteeing you the service requested which should include a list of all obligations that it extends to you including but not limited to: a) confidentiality, b) liability for failure to protect your interest, and that you are entitled to return of your money if they fail to make good their commitment.
g) We are allowed to prepare such agreements in Belize.
In Belize, the only persons legally allowed to draft agreements that concern an asset exceeding $500.00 BZE, must be drawn by an Attorney.
All other individuals are restricted to the drafting of agreements for assets below $500.00 BZE.
14.-(1) Subject to this Act, if a person whose name is not entered on the Roll-
(a) practises law;
(b) wilfully pretends to be an attorney-at-law; or
(c) makes use of any name, title or description implying that
he is entitled to be recognised or to act as an attorney-
at-law, he commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and term of imprisonment.
(2) A person who, not being entitled to act as an attorney-at-law,
acts in any respect as an attorney-at-law in any action or matter or in any court in the name or through the agency of an attorney-at-law entitled so to act commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year, or to both such fine and term of imprisonment.
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(a) a public officer or person appointed under any law to
act for another for the purposes of:-
(i) drawing or preparing instruments; or
(ii) appearing for the complainant or plaintiff in a
summary jurisdiction court or district court,
if authorised by law to do so in the course of his duty;
(b) a person employed merely to engross any instrument or
proceeding; or
(c) a person drawing or preparing-
(i) a will or other testamentary instrument,
(ii) an instrument for his own use,
(iii) an agreement other than for his own use for
which the consideration does not exceed five
thousand dollars,
(iv) a letter, notice or power of attorney.
(5) Notwithstanding section 21 of the Summary Jurisdiction
(Procedure) Act, a complaint for an offence under this section may be laid at any time within two years next after the commission of the offence or within six months next after the first discovery thereof by the complainant, whichever period is the shorter.
Estevan Perera
