Housing czar Eduardo del Rosario on Wednesday vowed to intensify the campaign against real estate scammers.
He said the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development was set to launch the campaign against illegal developers, fake brokers and salespeople.
During a recent management committee meeting, he ordered all regional offices to craft their own campaigns to go after real estate scammers, particularly unscrupulous developers, real-estate brokers and agents engaged in the illegal selling of real-estate properties.
He tasked the agency’s top officials in the Quezon City main office to strengthen their collaboration with other government agencies, such as the Justice and Interior departments and partner developers to boost their efforts.
“We need to put a stop to these illegal activities through pro-active efforts in collaboration with our stakeholders, including legitimate developers who are also falling victims to these scammers and other government agencies,” Del Rosario said.
“The DHSUD should take the lead in going after these unscrupulous groups or individuals.”
Del Rosario says the DHSUD has the regulatory power over real-estate developers, brokers and salespeople, and that they must register with the agency before engaging in property selling.
He reacted to reports of illegal activities by unregistered developers and brokers in various parts of the country through various platforms, including social media, in illegally selling lots and housing units and preying on unsuspecting buyers.
“We should protect our home buyers, especially overseas Filipinos workers, from these scammers,” Del Rosario said.
He reminded real-property buyers to avoid falling prey to illegal developers.
A buyer could demand a copy of the certificate of registration specifically issued for the property being eyed and the license to sell.
Both documents are applied with the DHSUD before a project can be advertised or sold. Having such documents ensure that a project is compliant with government requirements and standards.
When in doubt, Del Rosario urged home buyers to seek assistance from the DHSUD.
