Hong Kong Ordinances

ESTATE AGENTS ORDINANCE - SECT 46

Form and content of estate agency agreement

This section shall come into operation on 1 November 1999 only for the
purposes of its application to and in relation to any property in Hong Kong
used wholly or primarily for human habitation.

(1) An estate agency agreement shall comprise 1 or more written documents, and
any agreement made in accordance with regulations made under subsection (4) to
vary or supplement any such documents.

(2) For the purposes of section 45, the Authority may, with the approval of
the Secretary, by regulation prescribe particulars or other matters to be
included in estate agency agreements and, subject to subsection (3),
regulations under this subsection may contain such provisions as appear to
the Authority to be appropriate in order to ensure that clients of
licensed estate agents are made aware of-

   (a)  the rights and obligations conferred on or imposed by any, particular
        such agreement on the parties to it;

   (b)  the amount or the rate, as the case may be, of any commission or other
        fee payable by such clients under any such agreement;

   (c)  any other matters which, in the opinion of the Authority, it is
        desirable for persons who are such clients to know about in connection
        with any such agreement.

(3) Regulations under subsection (2) may provide that an estate 
agency agreement shall-

   (a)  specify the amount or the rate, as the case may be, of any commission
        or other fee payable under the agreement and, in case it is not
        payable to the licensed estate agent concerned, the person or persons
        to whom it is payable;

   (b)  state-

        (i)    whether or not the licensed estate agent concerned or, in case
               any salesperson employed or appointed by him acts as regards
               the relevant  property, whether or not that salesperson, has a
               pecuniary or other beneficial interest in
               the relevant property;

        (ii)   whether or not the licensed estate agent concerned is, as
               regards the relevant property, also acting, or has agreed to
               act, for a person other than the client with whom the agreement
               is made;

        (iii)  if such agent is so acting or has so agreed, whether or not
               remuneration is payable to such agent (or to 1 or more other
               persons) by reason of such agent's so acting or having so
               agreed to act; and

        (iv)   in case remuneration is so payable, its amount or its rate, as
               the case may be, and the person or persons to whom it is
               payable;

   (c)  contain an undertaking that the licensed estate agent concerned,
        should he agree to act in a manner described in paragraph

   (b)  (ii). will, as soon as may be, supply to the client with whom the
        agreement is made all of the particulars required by paragraph
        (b)(iii) and (iv) to be but which have not then been stated in the
        agreement;

   (d)  specify-

        (i)    obligations, if any, which will apply as regards the client
               with whom the agreement is made should he acquire or dispose of
               any part of the relevant property otherwise than through the
               licensed estate agent concerned; and

        (ii)   the period (which shall not be longer than a period (if any
               prescribed for the purposes of this subparagraph) during which
               such obligations, if any, are to have effect under the
               agreement; and

   (e)  specify terms and conditions on or subject to which the client with
        whom the agreement is made agrees to advertising as regards the 
        relevant property.

(4) Regulations under this section may in particular-

   (a)  require prescribed information to be included in a prescribed manner
        in documents of a prescribed class or description;

   (b)  require prescribed material to be excluded from documents of such a
        class or description;

   (c)  contain requirements to ensure that prescribed information is clearly
        brought to the attention of clients of licensed estate agents, and
        that one part of a document is not given insufficient or excessive
        prominence compared with another;

   (d)  prescribe the manner in which agreements which vary or supplement the
        terms and conditions of or any prescribed class or description of the
        terms and conditions of an estate agency agreement are to be made;

   (e)  apply to all estate agency agreements or to such agreements which are
        of a prescribed class or description.

(5) (a) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), a person shall be regarded as
having a beneficial interest in the relevant property to which a particular
estate agency agreement relates if-

        (i)    the person or his specified relative, or any nominee of his or
               of his specified relative, is a member of a company or any
               other body which has a beneficial interest in such property;

        (ii)   the person or his specified relative, or any nominee of his or
               of his specified relative, is in partnership with or is in the
               employment of a person who has a beneficial interest in such
               property;

        (iii)  the person or his specified relative, or any nominee of his or
               of his specified relative, is a party to any arrangement or
               agreement

(whether enforceable or not) concerning such property.

   (b)  In this subsection-

"brother or sister" (兄弟或姊妹), in relation to a person, includes any
child of a parent of the person;

"child" (子女) includes a child who is illegitimate or adopted and a step
child, and "parent" (父母) shall be construed accordingly;

"specified relative" (指明親屬), in relation to a person, means the
spouse, parent, child, brother or sister of the person;

"spouse" (配偶), in relation to a person, means any person to whom the
first-mentioned person is, by reason of the form of marriage contracted,
lawfully married.

(6) In this section "the relevant property" (有關的物業) includes, in
relation to an estate agency agreement, whichever of the following as is
appropriate having regard to the agreement, namely, the whole or any part of
the property to which the agreement relates or, in case the agreement relates
to 2 or more distinct properties, all of those properties when taken together
as a whole, the whole of each of any 1 or more of those properties and part of
any 1 or more, or all, of those properties.

"brother or sister" (兄弟或姊妹)

"child" (子女)

"parent" (父母)

"specified relative" (指明親屬)

"spouse" (配偶)

"the relevant property" (有關的物業)