Agents engaged in real estate transactions will not be able to work unless they pass the certification exam for mediators in trade and lease of real estate and receive a license. As many as 730 candidates applied for the first round of exams, which is three times more than was expected.

The Chairman of the Certification Exam Committee Željko Stojanović claims that in this way a completely unregulated area is being regulated in accordance with EU standards.

“This improves the quality of services and results in better competitiveness of the services sector in Serbia. The state will allow everyone to take the exam and the profession will enter the nomenclature of occupations. Also, by the middle of next year, people will be able to check whether a broker is registered in the register of intermediaries and whether an agent is licensed, thus providing greater legal certainty in the real estate business,” said Stojanović.

By the middle of next year, the Ministry of Trade will publish on its website the register of agents who have obtained a license.

The introduction of licenses is supported by Miroslav Cvetković, the director of the real estate agency “Cvetković-Roškov”. “Customers do not have to be legally literate, but agents do. Unfortunately, various unskilled people have been working in this field. In this way, the quality of services will be far greater and will be the same for the whole country. By May 2015, all those who wish to continue working in this field will have to pass the licensing exam and be enrolled in the register of intermediaries,” said Cvetković.

Kaća Lazarević from the real estate agency “Alka” believes that the new rules will result in the shutdown of many agencies that did not operate in accordance with the regulations, and that they will create a more serious image of the people working in this field.” A licensed agent will not be able to work for several agencies. Agencies will need to have at least one licensed agent in permanent employment. Work from home will no longer be possible. Also, lawyers will not be able to do this work unless they make a part of their office into a company that will deal with this field specifically,” said Lazarević.

What an agent needs to know

In order to obtain a license, an agent must demonstrate adequate knowledge in several areas; these are law and finance, management in trade and lease of real estate and spatial planning. The exam consists of a written and an oral part.