What will happen to real estate brokers after the law on real estate activity comes into force?

What will change for real estate brokers after the law on real estate activity comes into force?

Real estate brokers—individuals who have been providing brokerage services in the real estate market for many years without formal contracts, certificates, or any kind of record keeping—will not disappear immediately after the new law "On Real Estate Activity" comes into force.

This conclusion was reached at a meeting in Tashkent, where representatives of the Oliy Majlis, UzLiDeP, the Ministry of Justice, the State Assets Management Agency (SAMA), and the Chamber of Realtors explained the practical aspects of the new regulation to market participants.

The question of the future of real estate brokers was raised by one of the meeting participants, who inquired about what would happen to this category of specialists after the law comes into force.

The agency representative acknowledged that real estate brokers are present in the market and will continue to operate for some time.

"Everyone sees this, everyone knows this," he noted.

According to him, some transactions will inevitably take place outside the official system, and the full formalization of this segment through certified realtors will occur gradually.

Therefore, the new law does not envisage the immediate disappearance of realtors from the market. However, a specific mechanism for immediately removing them from the informal sector was not outlined at the meeting.

Who is subject to mandatory certification?

The head of one real estate organization gave an example of the staff structure of a large agency: of 300 employees, approximately 30-40 work directly with clients and transactions, while another 10 or so perform administrative functions. He inquired about which employees would need to be certified in such a case.

An AUGA representative reported that a classification of professions is currently being developed. It will separately define the position of realtor, as well as related positions. Agencies will be guided by this document when forming their staff. The classification should determine which positions require certification and which do not.

Participants also discussed the situation where an agency employee is officially called a manager rather than a realtor.

An AUGA representative explained that if an employee holds the title of realtor, they must be certified. If they are officially a manager, they are not authorized to sign contracts for brokerage services.

"As the director, you are responsible for them. They are not authorized to engage in real estate activities; they are an assistant," the agency representative explained.

However, a formal change in title is not sufficient. If the employee actually handles a large volume of clients and advertises themselves as a real estate agent, they still need to obtain the appropriate title. The title should not be used to circumvent legal requirements.

Essentially, this is the same issue as with brokers, only from a different perspective: the law seeks to draw a clear line between official real estate activities and the actual provision of brokerage services without the appropriate title. However, the meeting participants did not receive a clear answer to the question of how exactly this boundary would apply to independent brokers who are not registered as realtors or agency employees.

How will a realtor's status be verified?

A separate set of questions concerned the mechanism for confirming professional status. In the future, this mechanism should make certified realtor status verifiable, thereby increasing its value for clients.

Elena Kostyuk, CEO of a training academy specializing in training real estate specialists, asked whether, after training and certification, a specialist would be able to independently verify their data in the unified registry and how their current professional status would be confirmed.

Representatives of the Ministry of Justice reported that a standard for the public service for entering information into the unified registry is currently being developed.

The document is planned to be discussed with public organizations, including realtors, real estate organizations, agents, and professional associations.

The registry itself will be open and accessible 24/7 on the government services website. This will allow anyone to independently verify the status of any specialist.

Participants also asked what happens after a qualification certificate expires and how this relates to the requirement for periodic refresher training. A department representative confirmed that refresher training is conducted at training centers, and the relevant period is counted from the moment the certificate is received.

Why a new law is needed

At the beginning of the meeting, a representative of UzLiDeP explained the need for reform. According to him, the previous law on real estate activities was adopted long ago, was outdated, and no longer corresponded to modern market conditions. Therefore, a new document was developed.

This, according to the meeting participants, is precisely where many practical issues arise. The market will need to determine which employees need to be certified, what powers specialists with different positions will have, how realtor status will be confirmed, and how the new requirements will affect people who have worked in the real estate market for years without official status.

One of the main questions—what exactly will happen to independent brokers after the law comes into force—remains unanswered. Market representatives acknowledge that the transition to a fully official model will take time.

Uzbekistan is creating an open registry of realtors with a rating system and uniform service standards. It will be available on the Realting.uz platform. A code of ethics and document templates aimed at fostering trusting and honest relationships among all market participants will also be approved.