A Government Bill proposing requirements for the activities of real estate brokers is currently being considered in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Anticipated to take effect on 1 January 2020, the bill will bring about changes also in the Trade Licencing Act by introducing new professional practices: “real estate brokerage” for which more advance professional skill levels will be required. With the government bill in place, the activities of real estate brokers will be pursued only as part of that professional practices and the real estate brokers will be required to arrange professional indemnity insurance to cover for claims made by clients for any losses suffered as a result of the activities of real estate brokers. The real estate brokers will further be required to submit an official copy of a register concerning the property and obtain with professional care any and all information as to the defects in and restrictions on the property and disclose the same to clients. The real estate brokers will be prohibited from acting as real estate escrow officers for the purposes of ensuring that the conditions of real estate contracts are all satisfied; clients will be entitled to terminate real estate brokerage agreements in given cases on the grounds of breach of real estate broker’s duties; and it will be possible to arrange the broker’s fee payment only after a respective real estate contract is commissioned and the client is obligatorily and explicitly advised as of the agreed broker’s fee payment in the real estate brokerage agreement.
We will keep you updated.
