We have witnessed
over the years that the increase of transactions in the real estate market has also
increased the number of individuals who present themselves as real estate
agents and who advertise sales and lease of properties, charging large sums
for their services from clients without any responsibility for their work and
without issuing fiscal invoices for their services, all with the aim of making
quick and large profits. This directly caused financial damage to sellers,
buyers, lessors, lessees, as well as agencies that perform their work
professionally and in accordance with the rules of the profession.
On October 1, 2021, In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on Real Estate Brokerage entered into force (No. 75/21), which regulates the specific conditions that must be fulfilled for real estate brokerage activities, and this became legal for the first time in the Federation.
The Register is public and all interested parties and clients can observe the data in the Register, which will be published on the Ministry's official website. The Ministry can also issue an Extract from the Register at the request of interested parties.
Only real estate brokerage
companies registered in the official court or municipality that fulfill all conditions
signed to the Real Estate Brokerage Law can be entered in The Register.
Among other
conditions for registration in the Register, this Law also obliges that the brokerage
company needs to have at least one person – Agent that is full-time employed and
professionally trained in real estate brokerage who proves his training by
passing a professional exam conducted by the Chamber of Commerce of the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is important to point out that by this Law the brokerage companies are obliged to conclude a Real Estate Brokerage Agreement with all clients in written form with the prescribed content, and that it is prohibited to advertise the sale/lease of real estate without a Brokerage Agreement. Only under that condition, clients do have the obligation to pay the brokerage fee.
The Law on Real Estate Brokerage foresees penalties for those who violated it, in a range from 1.000 to 30.000 KM, depending on whether the Law was violated by a person or a company. The law prescribes a fine ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 KM for the illegal work of individuals who mediate real estate transactions for a fee.
The Federal Ministry of Trade is in charge of administrative supervision over the implementation of this Law and its regulations, while the Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs through the cantonal authorities is in charge of inspection supervision over the implementation of this Law and its regulations.
"TOP NEKRETNINE" LLC Sarajevo fulfilled its legal obligation based on Decision No. 05-04-156-UT/22 issued by the competent Federal Ministry of Trade on November 8, 2022, and fulfilled the conditions prescribed by the Law, and became officially registered in the Register with license number 23/2022.