Up until now, there has been no government regulation of real estate professionals in Jalisco. It was simply a matter of printing a business card, hanging out a shingle, and bam! you are in business. No licensing, no regulation, and little to no recourse against bad agents and companies except for time-consuming and expensive criminal or civil legal actions.
On Saturday, August 5, 2023, the State of Jalisco published a law to establish the State Registry of Providers of Real Estate Services (Registro Estatal de Prestadores de Servicios Inmobiliarios).
The law will take effect in 200 days and the Regulations for said law must be issued within 180 days. Real estate professionals and agencies will have one year from now to start all applications and procedures necessary to be registered, with penalties and fees to be collected starting next year.
Accredited Real Estate Agencies will have the following obligations:
1) To comply with and make the agents that are part of their company comply with the requirements and obligations established by the Law;
2) Inform the Secretary of all changes or modifications to the information contained in their accreditation, as well as changes of agent employment.
3) To have in a visible place their proof of accreditation as well as those of their agents that work there.
4) To only use contracts of adhesion approved by PROFECO (the vast majority of the real estate companies and agents have been using illegal contracts for years that favor them and not the consumer).
In order for real estate professionals to be accredited, they will need the following (abbreviated list here):
1) Proof of real estate classes authorized by the commission (foreigners better start brushing up on your Spanish!)
2) Prove that the contracts they use are legal and approved by PROFECO.
3) Agree to comply with the continuing educational requirements which are mandatory for renewal of their accreditation.
4) Pass a criminal record background check.
5) For foreigners to be legally in the country with work permission authorized by Immigration.
Accreditations will be valid for 3 years from the date of issuance. Price to be determined. A database will be created to check the status and to see if there has been any disciplinary action taken.
People falsely saying they are accredited are subject to fines of 50 to 150 UMAs and those who are working without the accreditation may be subject to criminal charges. Those working with an expired one, who fail to post visibly their accreditation and registration or advertising in violation of the rules are subject to punishment.
This is a good start but there are still things that need to be addressed such as ethics, ethics violations, agency and dual agency, and its disclosure and the existence of any fiduciary duty, if any, as well as any disclosures of conflicts of interest as well as teaching agents how to determine these circumstances and duties.
Full original government publication of the law in Spanish here:
https://apiperiodico.jalisco.gob.mx/
Source: jalisco.gob.mx/
