Partnership real estate agent or business agent licence - real estate

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Licence holdersProperty industry

To apply for a partnership or firm licence:

  • all of the natural persons, if any, by whom the firm is constituted and all of the directors of, and all of the persons concerned in the management or control of, any body corporate by which the firm is constituted are persons of good character and repute and are persons fit to be concerned as directors of, or in the management and control of, an agent’s business;
  • the persons by whom or by which the firm is constituted have sufficient material and financial resources available to them to enable them to comply with the requirements of the Act;
  • where the firm is constituted by:
    • not more than three persons at least one of them is licensed or
    • more than three persons at least two of them are licensed; and
  • the person in bona fide control of the business operated under the licence is licensed.

Fitness and character of applicant and relevant persons

Each partner of the firm and each director of any company, which is a partner, must provide an Australian police check from an approved provider issued no more than three months prior to the date of lodging the application.

Each partner and each director of any company, which is a partner, must also provide two business references. The references must be in the pro forma.

The application form requests the disclosure of previous convictions, pending proceedings and previous disqualifications involving each partner and each director of any company, which is a partner.

A person who gives false or misleading information to the Commissioner or chief executive officer under the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978, including  in relation to an application for a real estate agent or business agent licence, commits an offence and is liable for a penalty of up to $20,000. 

Person in bona fide control

If one of the partners is not undertaking the role of person in bona fide control of the business, then the partners must nominate a licensed person to carry out the role. The appointee must complete a statutory declaration verifying their preparedness to carry out the statutory obligations as the person in bona fide control.

Access to sufficient funds

A confidential statement of each partner’s current assets and liabilities are required to be submitted with the application. Where a body corporate is a partner, it must also provide a confidential statement of its assets and liabilities.

A person who gives false or misleading information to the Commissioner or chief executive officer under the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978, including  in relation to an application for a real estate agent or business agent licence, commits an offence and is liable for a penalty of up to $20,000. 

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