5 Important Things to Remember About the HLURB’s Real Estate Advertising Guidelines
HLURB’s revised guidelines will help make property seekers’ decision-making easier by equipping them with the right information.
When you’re looking to secure property, where do you start? For most, they are able to gain access to choices by seeing advertisements, whether these are populated online or elsewhere. It is understandable, as future buyers, for people to rely on such venues for the most accurate and complete information on their potential homes.
However, it isn’t always the case in real life. For this reason, the role of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, or HLURB, is vital. As the agency primarily tasked with policy development, planning and regulation on matters such as housing and land development, the HLURB protects prospective buyers of property from fraud and other malpractices in the industry.
The agency accomplishes this by releasing implementing rules and regulations (IRR). Just recently, they released an IRR for the Subdivision and Condominium Buyers’ Protective Decree (also known as Presidential Decree No. 957).
For brokers, it is necessary to get to know these guidelines set by the HLURB, but for potential property buyers, it certainly won’t hurt to be aware, especially if it minimizes risk. Here are a few important points from the IRRs:
What Counts as Advertisement
An advertisement is “any form of information” relating to a project, its operations, and activities, in order to market and sell the property. These advertisements are rampant in all forms of media and can be created by owners, developers, brokers, and salespersons—making them liable for misrepresentations.
Remember, an advertisement is different from an “announcement.” Announcements are generally made just by the real estate project’s owners and developers.
Registration is a Must
To protect potential buyers from potential malpractices, brokers, dealers, and salespersons are required to be registered with the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service (PRBRES). Also, before dealing with projects registered with the agency, real estate workers need to be registered with the HLURB. Further, PRBRES-licensed brokers and PRBRES-accredited salespersons and business firms with HLURB-registered projects must register with the HLURB. Always make sure the people you are dealing with are duly registered; meanwhile, for brokers and salespersons, this is a way to establish trust and accountability with your clients right off the bat.
Take Note of the Specifics
Whenever coming up with advertisements for projects, whether subdivisions or condominiums, make sure to include the following specifications:
- Unless the complete payment and financing scheme is disclosed in the ad, there should be no mention of any means of payment or financing on the advertisement.
- Photos used in the advertisement must always be captioned appropriately. Ads must specify whether depictions of the property are the artist’s illustrations, actual photos, or architect’s rendering.
- Distance stated should not be misleading. Thus, when stating distances in the advertisements, including when describing the property’s distance from certain landmarks, express it accurately in kilometers.
- The Truth in Advertising
Always seek the truth in advertising real estate, whether you’re a broker or buyer. If you’re creating them, advertisements must always reflect the project or property in its actual state, and should not be meant to sway the public through misleading depictions. Facilities, infrastructure, and other types of developments must be accurately depicted.
So you’re a buyer and you think a particular project is too good to be true? It probably is. Make sure to look for the following information first when coming across a piece of advertising:
- Name of owner and developer of the project
- License to Sell or Amended License to Sell number
- Advertisement approval number
- Approved project completion date
- The maximum selling price (only for economic and socialized housing projects)
Make Informed Decisions with these Guidelines
Thanks to the revised IRRs, advertisements are just as good as real estate warranty, in that owners and brokers are made responsible for any representations in ads they submit to the HLURB for signing, and which the HLURB subsequently releases to the public. This means, failure to deliver on the terms—in a complete and timely manner–will result in a breach of contract, where there are corresponding fees and penalties.
For buyers, it is incredibly important to be vigilant regarding the information presented in advertising, so that this aids in their decision-making. Only after considering advertisements in accordance with these set guidelines can a buyer make an optimal, informed choice. Brokers also need to do their part in safeguarding the buyer’s choice by seeking fair, straightforward representations of their potential future home.
No comments:
Post a Comment