IS THSI LEGAL :Why agent is asking for Half month rent commission when we rent an apartment
By tony.saleem •
Hi,
is this legal to pay commision to agent as well , fro example im new in doha but live in couple of middle east countries, here in doha agents who are posting renting aprtments + in in newspaper are asking for half month rent , is this legal?
How come a tenant rent a expensive apartment as well as pay half month rent as well.. is this wise commission, this is a very high revenue generating job... everybody should do this, i saw many advertiser does not belong to real estate agent but ask for money half rent plus they say owners are not giving them commission, is this right ?
In my personal opinion, this is not legal.
Why? Because they advertised it and it is not openly discuss. It should be in the advertisement that says "I am an agent and my commission on this is QR_____."
Without this clause in the advertisement, the tenant would assumed that the advertiser is the one who is managing the Villa or rooms available.
I hope this would be fix soon.
It seems that most of you here hate this practice, but here are the facts:
It's Legal!
There's nothing in Qatari law that bans this for real-estate agencies.
We may not like it (they should do it for free - as a public service), but it's still legal.
I wouldn't mind paying a legitimate real estate agent the 1/2 month commission but most of the people out there doing this business are free lancers. I have heard many horror stories of these so called agents that ask for a years advance payment and then abscond with the money. Are there any laws protecting innocent people from this kind of action? My advice is that please ensure that you deal only with registered real estate agents to avoid being conned.
Commission Charged as Service Charges can be legal. I think some legal guys need to throw light on this.
However, Giving daily Ads, showing flats to clients, which may rent or not, employeing ppl to show you around, all these incur costs. In many countries, the agents charge the landlords, in some countries both the parties are charged. It all depends on the practice in the marketplace. As long as they do not hide it and clearly mention the charge, seems OK to me.
NEVER NEVER NEVER GO FOR ACCOMODATION WHERE YOU HAVE TO PAY ANY COMMISSION TO AN AGENT. FIND A PLACE DIRECTLY FROM THE OWNER OR WHERE THE OWNER PAYS THE AGENT. THERE IS PLENTY AVAILABLE NOW. DONT FEED THESE OPPORTUNISTIC RATS.
If you check some of the ads in QL's classified section, you will find that some people are openly asking for the 1/2 month commision as one of the conditions. QL should not allow this.....................
It is not legal but it is common. Try to go to the owner or real estate company directly to avoid paying this commission. Most of these people just note down numbers from banners placed outside vacant property. They are not offering anything substantial in return for your money. They are just being opportunistic.