Homes For Sale In Jamaica Review
The Jamaican Real Estate Act and regulations have detailed provisions imposing liability on licensees (principally) and the seller to account for monies related to the disposition or acquisition of Jamaican land received for any other requirements prescribed for applicants in general. However, the Board is not obliged to approve the applications even of said professionals and must verify the capacity and experience of said person or it can provisionally grant said application. It should be noted that apart from the special provisions for these “experienced” professionals, other provisions of the Law apply to them as to “new” applicants. This mandate has serious implications for homes for sale in Jamaica by sellers.
development schemes
The regulation of transactions in development schemes is one of the main objects of the Law. It defines the terms “development scheme” and “developer” and provides for the registration of developers; however it also describes the circumstances in which a person is required to register as a developer, and these are:
1) When the number of lots or batches provided for in the scheme exceeds five
2) When the number of strata lots comprising building units in the scheme exceeds five
3) When the person developing the scheme has carried out another development scheme within the previous 24 months.
In particular, a seller who enters into a prepayment contract in breach of specified conditions is subject to the buyer terminating the contract and recovering the money paid together with interest, even if the seller has not committed any other breach of contract. This is a crucial point for houses for sale in Jamaica.
trust accounts
The primary obligation of any developer as a seller under a prepaid contract is to account for funds received from any buyer pursuant to such contract.
Consequently, the developer is obliged to:
a) Deposit the money of the prepaid contract in a fiduciary account in an authorized financial institution.
(b) Report each arrangement of such monies to the Board.
The Act prescribes procedures and obligations with respect to money in trust accounts. The Act also declares that the real estate professional who owns the client’s money is a trustee of said money on behalf of:
a) The one who has the right to receive it or to order its payment, for example, the seller whose goods the seller has sold.
b) The person who may be entitled to it in a given event, but the professional must have received it as an interested party (that is, having knowledge that some decision or event is pending that would determine the right to the funds).
The remedies available to the person entitled to the funds are extended due to the creation of a trust, as they can take action against the relevant practitioner for breach of trust. A real estate seller or dealer employed by a broker is released from this trust by paying the funds to the seller. Consistent with the trust relationship is the accounting and recording that is required of a real estate merchant or seller in connection with client money. The obligations that a merchant must fulfill with respect to customer money can be summarized as follows:
1. Payment of said money into a client account without delay, however, the funds need not be separated according to the client.
2. Keeping of accounts and records related to said money.
3. Explanation upon request of all matters related to said money.
4. Preparation of accounts on said monies and audit of said accounts.
These are the basic rules, regulations and bylaws that guide homes for sale in Jamaica. It is critical that both sellers and buyers are aware of these laws and comply with them to the best of their ability.