Worried by the rate touting in the housing sector, an estate surveyor and Valuer, Wilson Akomas, has urged residents of Port Harcourt and its environs to desist from patronizing unregistered estate agents while search for accommodation.
Akomas who reacted to the rate of fraud and irregularities reported at various times on how accommodation seekers were swindled, in an interview with The Tide, noted that many people had lost their hard-earned money in the process.
The real estate professional who is a certified appraniser and a member of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) explained that one of the dangers of patronizing an unregistered agent was that the agent might disappear with any monetary payments.
He urged residents of the metropolis to patronize only estate agents that were registered with the regulatory body and were known to the NIESV, and urged agents and property service providers to comply with stipulated laws.
Akomas affirmed the resolve of the body towards checking the activities of unscrupulous estate agents whose stock-in-trade was to bastardize the profession.
According to him, the major concern of the government was the need to provide affordable housing for the increasing population, and that this has informed the various strategies and steps being taken at various levels to encourage private sector participation in housing provision.
“The various steps taken at various levels was aimed at encouraging the private sector in the provision of housing stock and as well check activities of quacks in the real estate sector”, he said.
The real estate expert also maintained that the authorities in the sector would exert their position as watch dog in the system so as to create a favourable business climate.