On 1 September 1988 the Jamaica Real Estate (Dealers and Developers) Act 1987 came into effect.

Broadly speaking, the two main objects of the Law are:

1) The license, regulation, and control of persons engaged in the real estate business as merchants or sellers of real estate.

2) The regulation of Jamaican land transactions in development schemes.

Jamaica Real Estate Board

This Law establishes the Real Estate Board, which is the statutory corporation specifically created to administer the provisions of the Law. The status of the Board is such that before the Minister issues certain Regulations, he is obliged to consult with the Board. This body, although it has broad powers in relation to its various functions, like any other statutory body must act within the general provisions of the law and particularly in accordance with the terms of the respective Law.

The Annex to the Law prescribes the constitution and operation of the Board. It describes the functions, duties, and responsibilities of the Board and requires the Board to account for its activities.

The decisions of the Board are not necessarily final and conclusive and certain decisions related to the registration of dealers, sellers and developers are subject to appeal to the Court of Appeals.

The Board must provide all applicants under the Act an opportunity to be heard if the application is considered to be denied. The role and powers of the Board Inspectors are discussed below.

inspectors

Matters relating to the appointment and powers of real estate inspectors with regard to surveillance.

The inspectors’ powers are quite broad and consist of power to

(i) Request information

(ii) Require the production of documents

(iii) Enter and search premises, subject to court order

These powers must be exercised in a reasonable manner and it shall be observed that the Law:

1) Allow time for the requested information to be supplied

2) Requires that reasonable grounds exist before an Inspector orders the production of the document.

3) Requires an Inspector to present your ID card upon request

4) Makes a warrant issued by a Justice of the Peace a precondition for entering the premises.

It should be noted that the Inspectors do not act on their own behalf but as representatives of the Board in order to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Law and assist the Board in the performance of its duties.

Real Estate Business Regulation

Nature of the Real Estate Business

Describing what is meant by “real estate business practice” for the purposes of the Act. Understanding this is important because control of real estate businesses is one of the primary purposes of the Act. This means that not everyone can get up and start advertising houses for sale in Kingston Jamaica.

The practice of real estate business involves the performance of a series of activities related to land on behalf of another person in exchange for some type of reward or benefit (monetary or otherwise), that is, compensation or valuable consideration. Not all categories of such activities are necessarily considered Jamaican owned businesses under the Act and it excludes certain categories of persons from necessarily coming within the scope of the Act, briefly these are:

1. Lawyers (i.e. people with powers to act under a power of attorney)

2. Lawyers acting in the exercise of their profession

3. Judicial officers

4. Persons with certain duties in respect of Jamaican property, eg administrators (of estates of deceased persons), executors of wills, trustees (eg in relation to companies), trustees.

5. People who trade in land of which they are part owners

6. Other public officials in the exercise of their official duties

7. Building managers in connection with the rental of units in the applicable complex.