The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Bureau said on the 5th that it referred three people, including a broker assistant who restricted joint brokerage with nonmember firms in the Banpo area of Seocho-gu, to the prosecution on suspicion of violating the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, broker assistant A organized a group of licensed real estate agents and enrolled as members those who paid a joining fee of 20 million to 30 million won. In contrast, the group suspended for six months the membership of those who jointly brokered properties with nonmember firms.
The city said A and associates distributed a list of nonmember licensed agents and restricted joint brokerage with nonmembers through a regional joint brokerage network used by licensed agents.
However, A was a broker assistant, not a licensed real estate agent. The city found that even those who had joined as members realized only later that A was not a licensed agent.
Under the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, those who form a group and restrict brokerage for a specific property or restrict joint brokerage with persons other than group members can face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won.
Byun Kyung-ok, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Bureau, said, "By restricting joint brokerage with nonmembers, they limited consumers' reasonable transaction and infringed on free competition in areas dense with licensed agents, disrupting the order of transactions in the real estate market."