Social media real estate posts face regulatory scrutiny

The Real Estate Board has opened a review of its code of ethics to set standards for how agents advertise property on social media and has sued a company it alleges brokered property without a licence.

The review examines rules written before Instagram and TikTok became a key sales channel for Jamaican agents, said Dr Tina Beale, principal of the Real Estate Training Institute, an arm of the Real Estate Board.

Users can post content on social media acting as agents without disclosing whether a licensed broker stands behind them. Additionally, the decorum and language of those promotions raise a separate concern.

“We are reviewing the Code of Ethics to identify shortcomings and ensure it reflects current advertising practices, particularly on social media,” Beale said.

The board wants to determine whether it needs new standards to govern advertising conduct and professional behaviour on digital platforms, where the risk that individuals or entities misrepresent their licensed status is higher, she said.

That risk underpins a claim the board recently filed against a company. The REB alleges that the company advertised and marketed properties for sale, rent, and lease while unregistered and unlicensed as a real estate dealer. The court has not determined the matter.

Inspectors flagged the company after seeing its promotions online and its signage in public spaces, Beale said.

“Once you’re advertising real estate and holding yourself out as conducting real estate business, a licence is required under the act,” she said. “Properties were being advertised on the website.”

The board seeks declarations and injunctive relief.

Beale said other operators may run similar businesses outside the licensing regime.

The REB also wants advertisements to identify the dealer behind the agent who places them. “The salesman works under the real estate dealer. The salesman can’t exist without the real estate dealer,” Beale said.

The Real Estate Board’s public register listed 600 dealers — brokerage firms and individuals trading under their own names — and up to 3,660 sales agents. These numbers also include inactive entities. The Realtors Association reportedly stated $99 billion worth of properties were sold in 2025.

The REB’s ethics review forms part of a wider effort to tie the board’s training, inspections, and enforcement functions together.

“We’re creating a supervisory loop of training, inspections, and monitoring, with inspection findings feeding directly into how the industry is trained,” Beale said.

Inspections run several days and cover customer due diligence records, know-your-customer documentation, risk assessments, training records, and compliance systems. The board gives registrants and licensees a chance to correct most deficiencies but escalates where they ignore regulatory obligations.

“If it is that the registrant or licensee fails to provide the requested information, they can be charged criminally because it’s a criminal offence,” Beale said. Sanctions also include licence suspension or revocation.

Separately, the board is negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to improve its response to real estate scams. Board chairman Andrew James leads that initiative, Beale said.

A broker-dealer and two real estate agents declined to comment when contacted.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com