As everyone knows, the only thing that doesn't change is the change itself. Thus, change is here forever and will affect each industry. These changes have affected and will continue to affect real estate as well. The last change affected real estate has initiated a new era for the Real Estate Trade.
The Regulation on Real Estate Trade had been published in the Official Gazette dated Tuesday, June 5, 2018. The published regulation had also been amended again in the upcoming years. In the new regulation, one article was highly noteworthy. To become a real estate consultant, you had to get a professional competence certificate. The regulation published in the Official Gazette on Friday, April 16, 2021, has been amended again. Before discussing the amendments, we would like to touch upon some points we think are helpful.
How to Get a Professional Competence Certificate?
Excluding the professions such as medicine and engineering, the remaining are within the scope of the Vocational Qualifications Authority Law No. 5544. The law requires individuals to prove their expertise in the professions they would like to execute. Individuals apply to the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA) to prove their competence. After fulfilling the requirements, they can get a professional competence certificate. The regulation requires real estate consultant candidates to have this certificate as well. Candidates must submit their application and then take the exam. They can take the exam at any institution authorized by the Vocational Qualifications Authority (VQA). Candidates with proven success and competence can now be real estate consultants. However, let's not forget one thing. Level 4 should be completed when the professional competence certificate is received. Those who want to be supervising real estate consultant must take and pass the Level 5 exam.
How to Get a Real Estate Trading Authorization Certificate?
Real estate consultant candidates must first get a professional competence certificate. Then they need to set up an office to do real estate trading. They also need to get a Real Estate Trading Certificate for their business. The application for getting the certificate is made to the Provincial Directorates of Commerce. They have to apply to the Provincial Directorate of Commerce located in the city where they will start their business. After satisfying the required qualifications, they are entitled to receive the certificate. Thus, they take part in the real estate industry.
Amendments to the Regulation on Real Estate Trading
In the past, the regulation didn't include a provision for primary school graduates. At least having a high school diploma was required for business owners to obtain an authorization certificate. According to the amendment, the regulation now makes it sufficient to be a primary school graduate. Thanks to the amendment, a new door has been opened for primary school graduates. Another amendment to the regulation is a continuation of the amendment we mentioned. To obtain an authorization certificate, graduates who have associate, undergraduate, and post-graduate degrees must show they have worked as a real estate consultancy or supervising real estate consultant for at least six months in the last five years before the application date. Others need to show they have worked as a real estate consultancy or supervising real estate consultant for at least twelve months. We can see the phrase "others" mentioned in the amendment means primary school graduate candidates.
Requirements for Granting a Real Estate Trading Authorization Certificate
Considering the regulation published and amended in the Official Gazette, there are specific requirements for obtaining an authorization certificate. These requirements are regulated as follows with the amendments:
a) The candidate must be registered in the relevant professional chamber,
b) The candidate must be an income or corporate taxpayer,
c) Real estate trading must be among the fields of activity in the professional chamber and tax records of the candidate,
d) At least one of the supervising real estate consultants must have a Level 5 professional competence certificate,
e) Supervising real estate consultants:
Must have reached the legal age of majority (18),
Must have a primary school degree at minimum,
Must not have a record of bankruptcy or, if such a record exists, must have been acquitted according to the Execution and Bankruptcy Code No. 2004 dated 9/6/1932,
Must not have been sentenced to a finalized imprisonment of more than five years for an intentionally committed crime, or have not been convicted for crimes against the security of the state, the constitutional order, the functioning of this order, national defence and state secrets as well as espionage, embezzlement, extortion, bribery, theft, swindling, forgery, breach of trust, fictitious bankruptcy, collusive tendering, the offence of using fraud or trickery in the fulfilment of execution, laundering of criminal assets, financing of terrorism, smuggling, tax evasion, unjustified benefit, torture, sexual assault and sexual harassment of children, deprivation of liberty, indecent acts, obscenity, prostitution, have not been convicted of prostitution, providing a place and opportunity for gambling, or have not been convicted of or prohibited from performing their trade or art,
Must be successful in at least one hundred hours of education on real estate trading provided by the Ministry of National Education and universities or institutions and organizations authorized by the Ministry of National Education,
Who have an associate, undergraduate, or post-graduate degree must show they have worked as a real estate consultancy or supervising real estate consultant for at least six months in the last five years, or who have a primary school degree must show they have worked as a real estate consultancy or supervising real estate consultant for at least twelve months before the application date.
Melisa Çetin
Product Marketing Assistant Specialist at Maydanoz
