Estate Agency Affairs Board

The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) was established in 1976 in terms of the Estate Agency Affairs Act, 112 of 1976 (“the Act”), with the mandate to regulate and control certain activities of estate agents in the public interest; and for incidental matters.

The EAAB regulates the estate agency profession by ensuring that all persons carrying out the activities of an estate agent as a service to the public are registered with the EAAB. A fidelity fund certificate, which is to be renewed each year, is issued as evidence of such registration and confirmation that such person is legally entitled to carry out the activities of an estate agent.

A core function of the EAAB is to manage and control the Estate Agents Fidelity Fund in the interest of the public and estate agents registered with the EAAB.

To maintain and promote the standards of conduct of estate agents;

• To manage the registration of qualified applications of estate agents;
• To issue fidelity fund certificates;
• To manage the educational and examination standards of the estate agents;
• To regulate the activities of estate agents;

The mandate of the EAAB is built on five key regulatory pillars, namely Registration, Education, Inspection and Investigation, Disciplinary and Claims and its industry supervisory role in terms of the Finance Intelligence Centre Act.

The core function of the EAAB is to enforce industry compliance through effective regulation.  The EAAB is therefore responsible for ensuring that all qualifying estate agents are issued with a valid fidelity fund certificate (FFC) on time in order for them to trade legally.

The EAAB is also responsible for the professionalisation of the industry by ensuring that every person trading as an estate agent acquires the right qualifications as prescribed in the legislation that came into effect on 15 July 2008.

The EAAB is listed as a Public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) Act 1 of 1999.This legislation places responsibility on the Board of the organisation, as the accounting authority, to manage the resources in a manner that encourages efficiencies and accountability for the use of public funds. A key responsibility is to present to the Executive Authority with an annual Strategic plan for a rolling three year period.An additional responsibility conferred on the EAAB is to be supervisory body in terms of the Financial Intelligence Act.