Egypt has taken a step towards regulating real estate brokerage, by issuing a law that specifically defines this profession and sets controls for its work, with deterrent penalties for violators.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree amending some provisions of Law No. 120/1982, to regulate the real estate brokerage activities. The House of Representatives had approved the law amendments in March.
The law obliges the Ministry of Trade and Industry to establish a register for real estate brokers.
According to the law, “a real estate broker is anyone who carries out brokerage work or seeks to conclude contracts related to properties, build-up lands, or vacant lands, whether buying, selling, leasing or mediating.”
The law also stipulates that the broker must conduct his transactions through e-payment channels, and to record all his transactions in the register designated for this purpose and submit it to the competent authorities.
The law stipulates that a penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine of not less than EGP 50,000 and not exceeding EGP 1m, or either of these two penalties, shall be handed down to violators, in addition to, a two-year ban maximum on the broker and his company or office.
