In a related announcement, the Association emphasized that "complaints to members of our association are increasing that the Real Estate market has been infiltrated by brokers who not only demand fees they are not entitled to but also endanger the legitimacy of a sale".
The Association of Realtors lists "some guidelines – useful steps to take to determine whether you're dealing with a real broker or a scammer, who at best will act unprofessionally and at worst could lead to you losing big or small amounts of money."
In particular,
"The professional broker, in addition to the VAT number, also has the G.E.M.I. (General Commercial Register) number, which you should ask for before any transaction.
In the event that you have not noticed this initialy, then when you sign the assignment order, the broker should put his stamp on which the VAT number and the G.EM.I are explicitly mentioned.
Also, thousands of brokers who are members of SMASAA have our Association's identity card, which proves that they are legal brokers, however, the possession of the identity card is NOT mandatory like the other two elements we mentioned above.
In the event that citizens have any doubt as to which extent the person they have chosen as their broker is legally working, they can also contact the telephone numbers of our Association for further instructions".
