The constituent session of the Real Estate Trade Group within the Board of Trade Associations of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro was held on November 23, 2020. The mandates of 22 members of the Group were verified, the Rules of Procedure and the Work Program for the following year were adopted.
In addition to the members, the Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce Ljiljana Filipović, Secretary of the Board Jelena Golubović, representatives of the Ministry of Economy Dragan Vukčević and the Administration for Inspection Supervision Marina Radulović and Marina Janković participated in the work of the session.
The scope of the Group's work is aimed at providing assistance and support to companies engaged in mediation in real estate transactions and considering issues of importance for their work, in order to improve business in this area in an organized and efficient manner.
Veselin Dragaš, Forte Mare, was elected president of the Group, and Dušan Ranković, Kamin Real Estate Montenegro, was elected deputy.
- Affirmation of the profession, education with the aim of constantly innovating knowledge will be among the priorities of our group - said Dragaš.
One of the priorities, according to businessmen, is the passing of a law on mediation in traffic and leasing of real estate. The lack of regulations regulating the real estate trade is the reason for the existence of a huge number of those who are engaged in mediation in real estate transactions, who, through illegal actions, cause direct damage to the state, agencies, clients, and indirectly to the entire profession. The current situation in the area of real estate transactions is characterized by a large number of irregularities and problems arising as a result of the absence of a special legal framework that would regulate this area.
This activity is characterized by the application of general rules regulated by the Law on Obligation Relations and the Law on Business Companies, which in practice has proven to be insufficient. Legal regulation of this area, in addition to legal security for participants in the business of mediation in traffic and rental of real estate, provides conditions for raising the level of quality of mediation services (according to European standards), contributes to the development of the real estate market and strengthening the competitiveness of economic entities in this sector. In the countries of the region, Laws on mediation in real estate transactions were passed in Slovenia in 2003, Croatia in 2007, Serbia in 2013, and a draft law was adopted in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018.
The representative of the Ministry of Economy, Dragan Vukčević, emphasized that this area must be regulated by law, but also warned that the regulation will bring new obligations to businessmen engaged in this activity, in terms of the necessity of licensing. The law would protect citizens who participate in real estate transactions, reduce the gray economy, but also the room for maneuver for intermediaries in this area, he believes.The representatives of the Directorate for Inspection Supervision emphasized their readiness to contribute to the quality and sustainability of the future law with suggestions. Businessmen appealed to the inspection authorities to apply the provisions of existing laws to address the problem of the gray economy, which is particularly prevalent in internet advertising in this area.
Vedrana Kelleher, Savills Properties, which also operates in Croatia, indicated that the additional obligations for businessmen will not be much greater, especially not in relation to the benefits of regulation.
- We should not be afraid of a law that will bring administrative obligations, but will also regulate the market and remove a significant part of the gray economy - she said. Vice President of the Chamber Ljiljana Filipović stressed the importance of regulating the real estate market. She pointed to the data from the Chamber's Business Analysis, which showed that only 49 business entities that declare themselves as real estate agencies submitted financial balances for 2019, and the fact is that many more of them are engaged in this business.
Source: https://www.privrednakomora.me/saopstenja/konstituisana-grupacija-za-trgovinu-nekretninama