An estate agent who continued practice when his licence was under suspension had his licence further suspended for one month by the Disciplinary Committee.

The estate agent in question had his licence suspended for one month as the result of a breach of the Estate Agents Ordinance by a company of which he was a director. By the time he was to serve out the first suspension, the estate agent was already operating his business as a sole proprietor. In such circumstances, the suspension of his licence meant that his shop also had to cease operation during the period of suspension. The shop should also refrain from holding itself out to be carrying on estate agency business as well.

However, when staff members of the EAA inspected this estate agent's shop premises during the period of suspension, the doors were found to be wide open and the lights on, and property advertisements were on display at the shop front. The agent himself was found sitting before a computer inside. It was obvious that the owner of the shop was holding out to the public as being ready to undertake estate agency activities while his licence was still under suspension. The matter was then referred to the Police which took action accordingly. The estate agent pleaded guilty to a charge of practising estate agency without a valid licence in court and was fined $2,000.

Again this estate agent was summoned by the Disciplinary Committee to an inquiry hearing, at which he explained that his shop had a shared doorway with its neighbour and that the electricity supply was shared too. This, he claimed, had made it impossible for him to appear to be not in business during suspension, although he was, at the time of the visit of EAA personnel, only handling his personal matter and not pursuing estate agency work. The Disciplinary Committee, however, was of the opinion that the estate agent was duty-bound to ensure that the public would not be misled and should have indicated that his shop was not in business through various means, including the posting of a notice. The Committee agreed to give him a second chance and, for this contravention, ordered that his licence be suspended for another month, adding that grave penalties would be imposed upon him if he was found to commit the same breach again.