ACRES pledges support in fight against colorums

CEBU, Philippines —  The Accredited Real Estate Salespersons of the Philippines (ACRES) has pledged to work closely with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) in monitoring the proliferation of “colorum” real estate developers and unlicensed agents across the country.

During the ACRES Summit held Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at the Radisson Blu Cebu dubbed “Responsible Real Estate Marketing; For Sustainable Public Trust,” Atty. Carla M Colaljo from DHSUD called on hundreds of ACRES members to join the cause of minimizing, if not eradicating, the existence of real estate “scammers”, victimizing property buyers, including the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

According to ACRES national president Chris Malazarte, as the economy recovers and the prospects for real estate in the Philippines are brisker than ever, stakeholders also expect the rise of fraudulent real estate dealers, including pseudo groups that pose as developers to victimize buyers.

Even with the active stance of the government, led by DSHUD, to curb or eliminate the presence of colorum players, “they can only do so much,” due to a lack of manpower. Because of this, ACRES and its thousands of members around the Philippines will be an “agent of change”—in terms of reporting, and monitoring activities of unlicensed agents and brokers, as well as colorum developers.

With an estimate of over 50,000 unlicensed real estate salespersons selling properties without a license, or worse “scam” buyers, there is a need for stakeholders to act now in collaboration with the government, said Dr. Eduardo Ong, Chairman of the Philippine Federation of Real Estate Service Professionals.

Likewise, Anthony Leuterio, president of the A Better Real Estate Philippines (ABREP). warned that with the expected boom in real estate next year, there is a tendency for the number of colorum players to also rise.

According to Leuterio, the number one target of scammers are the OFWs whose huge share of remittances are invested in real estate.   “If there is a demand, there might be people who will take advantage," Leuterio noted.

Now that the economy is opening up in 2023, more projects are in the pipeline and are expected to be up in the market by 2024 to address the growing demand.

ACRES data showed that the biggest market for real properties in the Philippines are the OFWs with a P700 billion market value a year, which accounts for 30 to 40 percent of their remittances to the country.

Historically, Leuterio said OFW buyers are easy prey for scammers, although there are also a lot of buyers who are not residing abroad who are also victimized.

With ACRES’ commitment to helping with policing the existence of colorum practitioners, Leuterio hopes that will help professionalize the real estate industry in the country and raise awareness for buyers to only deal with licensed brokers and agents, as well legitimate developers.

The real estate sector in the country is governed by the DHSUD and the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC).

More than monitoring, Leuterio said the main advocacy of ACRES is to educate the market—and to encourage the unlicensed players to get their respective licenses.

“ACRES is here to educate the public and encourage those who have no license to take the PRC's new entry-level training,” Leuterio concluded.