NSW Fair Trading has released information regarding the new licensing reforms that will take effect from 23 March 2020.
What you need to know:
For members with a Certificate of Registration, from 23 March 2020 your category will transition to Assistant Agent in Strata Management. Please note that this is a licensing category change, not a reflection on the role you perform. You will continue to be supervised by the Licensee-in-Charge (Class 1 licence holder). As an Assistant Agent in Strata Management, you can perform the following functions:
- any function of an owners corporation
- any function of an association
You cannot:
- enter into an agency agreement or a franchising agreement
- affix the seal of the owners corporation
- authorise the withdrawal of money from the agency’s own trust account (you can still authorise withdrawals from a trust account held by the owners corporation)
From 23 March 2020, an Assistant Agent can still try to acquire new clients and arrange for an owners corporation to fill in an agency agreement, however, only a Class 2 or Class 1 Agent can sign and bind the agency to the agreement.
A certificate as an Assistant Agent is a one-off certificate issued for a period of 4 years. By the end of the 4 years, you must attain a Class 2 Strata Managing Agent licence. You can obtain this by
- completing the Certificate IV in Strata Community Management (CPP40516) and
- 12 months’ experience.
If you fail to obtain the Class 2 licence within this time, your certificate will lapse, and you will be unable to work as an Assistant Agent for a period of 12 months. Please see following links to the ‘Recent Law Reforms’ page from NSW Fair Trading and a document from SCA (NSW) which highlights the changes in the licensing requirements post 23 March 2020:
Additional links provided below:
The new Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 will also be implemented as of 23 March 2020. For more information click here.
SCA (NSW) has been working closely with NSW Fair Trading as part of the Real Estate Reference Group on the implementation of the reforms and part of the CPD subcommittee to create the guidelines around CPD and are in the forefront of topics to be delivered under the reforms. We’re currently finalising a comprehensive suite of Compulsory and Elective CPD topics for our members. Please check back regularly to view new topic releases throughout 2020 via our education calendar.
SCA (NSW) is here to assist you. For inquiries and support please contact SCA (NSW) Education by emailing education.nsw@strata.community or contacting Syd Ince on 9492 8210.