AMPI denounces ‘pirate’ real estate agents preying on foreigners
Mérida, Yucatán — Yucatan’s real estate establishment denounced the operation of “pirate” real estate agents who have defrauded foreign home buyers.
Rogue real estate agents are even inflating prices in the Centro, said the president of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI) Yucatan delegation, Aquiles González Chacón.
AMPI has documented two cases of shady dealings, which they warned can inhibit the market. Additional instances in which buyers were possibly defrauded are being investigated.
The organization is somewhat of a Mexican counterpart to Realtors in the United States and Canada. But real estate agents aren’t licensed in the way Realtors are north of the border.
Given this, the body will seek to denounce such irregularities, in addition to professionalizing brokers who are members of AMPI, which partly exists to protect the industry’s reputation.
These agents have misrepresented properties’ land use potential, said González Chacón. So buyers paid an inflated price for parcels that had previously undisclosed restrictions. This has happened both in the Centro and on the coast.
AMPI can reprimand or even expel members who prove to be dishonest, but real estate brokers are not required to join the association. The association is powerless to police transactions by agents outside its sphere.
González Chacón endorsed the idea of laws that oblige real estate agents to be trained and certified.
Source: Sipse
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